


Unwritten

by astarpen



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2015-10-29
Packaged: 2018-04-28 18:51:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 100,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5101808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astarpen/pseuds/astarpen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once upon a time, in a land far away there lived a Queen and her knight. They loved each other very much and a baby was conceived, unfortunately for the queen and the princess the knight got lost and it took years to find her way back home. This is that story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’m alive! At least I think I’m alive. Sort of, you see when I decided to go on vacation, I bet you all thought I sat on a beach somewhere and sipped on cold drinks and did summer fun activities. You were wrong. I don’t really know what a vacation is. I don’t, because while I was ‘on vacation’ I decided that I was going to start another story and finish it completely before I posted it. Well that didn’t quite happen. The story is almost done though. Honestly it should have been finished weeks ago, but I may have maybe started co-writing two fics, worked on my other chapters, etc. I just haven’t posted. I’m still not posting, not quite yet. But think of this as a preview, you know how in books the author puts the first chapter of their next project up and you can all read and judge and get excited. This is what this is. When this fic is finished you will get a chapter up every day. So there will not be any more stops or anything of the sort. You can wait until it’s finished of course, but I really do enjoy reading reviews, so I do hope that you take the time to read and review each chapter. 
> 
> That being said some of you will recognize the original premise from this first chapter from another popular fandom, which I may or may not start writing fanfiction for. I’m busy so we’ll see. But this story isn’t that story. It just sort of begins like it. So, assume that I know what I’m doing and hope that I manage to finish the last 5-10 chapters (It was meant to be 30 might end up being 35 chapters). Relatively soon so we can all go back to our regularly scheduled programing. Because if this is successful, the next fic that I try and do like this which is finished before I post will probably be a choice between a faberry piece and a pure Chartana piece. Well those are the ideas kicking around in my head who knows, you might actually have a choice between something else by the time I finish.
> 
> Anyway let’s get on with it, so here is the preview and the first chapter. 
> 
> Summary: Once upon a time, in a land far away there lived a Queen and her knight. They loved each other very much and a baby was conceived, unfortunately for the queen and the princess the knight got lost and it took years to find her way back home. This is that story. 
> 
> Song: Unwritten – Natasha Bedingfield 
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing, so don’t sue me.

Charlie pushed open the door to her apartment carrying a simple white bag and kicked off her work boots. It had been yet another long day but she had managed to get it done. She hated working in the winter, but everyone had emergencies, and having your pipes freeze and burst was one such emergency. She couldn’t wait for the summer. At least then she wouldn’t be cold all the time. She walked past her home phone, and eyed the messaging machine. Five messages. More than she had received last year. She didn’t even know why she had the damn thing, no one called her but it made her internet package and television package a bit cheaper so she had one. They had thrown in a free phone with it.

She placed the white bag from the bakery on her island and moved through her rather bare apartment and sighed. She should probably decorate. The guys at work were insisting that she should be a bit more sociable, but she liked the emptiness. There wasn’t really anyone to impress, maybe one day she’d paint it something other than white. But she was just leasing the place and once the lease ran out she’d simply have to find somewhere else. She never stayed too long in one place. She hadn’t in years. She moves to the fridge and she pulls out a near beer. She moves back and places the beer on the counter and pops the top tossing it in the trash. She moves to wash her hands before she opens the box to look at the single cupcake. Charlie smiles at it and opens the bag wider to pull out the birthday candle that she had picked up at the bakery. She pushes it into the top of her cupcake and then lights it with a match. She watches the candle burn for a moment thinking about her wish for a moment she traces the inside of her wrist. She closes her eyes and blows out the candle.

Nothing happens and she sighs as she looks around her empty apartment once more. She pulls the candle out and is about to eat it when there is a sharp knock at her door and Charlie sighs, not wanting to deal with Quinn. She hadn’t gotten her a present and she didn’t particularly want something that she was never going to use. Charlie puts the cupcake back down on the island and opens the door to her apartment and glances around before a small cough forces her to look down. “Uh—hi?” Charlie asks the child that is currently standing at her door bundled up in winter clothes, and a gigantic floppy hat.

“Are you Charlie Fabray?” The girl asks, looking up at Charlie with hazel eyes.

“Uh—yes?” Charlie says still confused as to what was going on. “Who are you?” She didn’t really do children. Yes she had a niece but she generally gave children a very wide berth and already she wanted to slip away and close the door in the kids face. She looked too similar to someone that she had loved and lost.

“My name is Isabela—but everyone calls me Bela. I’m your daughter.” Bela smiles at Charlie who stares back at her blankly. She hums and ducks under Charlie’s outstretched arm and made her way inside the apartment.

Charlie blinks at this, the shock ebbing away. “Wait—what? Hey—kid—what are you doing?” Charlie manages to get out. She’s still very much in shock. She turns around and closes the door, unsure of how to handle this situation. There was a strange child in her apartment and she didn’t want to be called some sort of pedophile. Maybe she should leave the door open. The kid was clearly insane. She opens the door just in case.

Isabela spots the cupcake on the counter and grabs it, and takes a bite of it. She grins because her mom won’t let her have this much sugar, like ever, and she loves the savory taste of bacon, it’s actually a bit of a surprise. “Thith ith really good!” She says to Charlie.

Charlie blinks twice and tilts her head at the child who was eating her only cupcake. She frowns ever so slightly, she couldn’t remember inviting the kid in to eat her food. “I don’t—have a daughter,” Charlie says. “Look, where are your parents? Are you lost?” She reaches across the island to stop the child who had invaded her house from drinking her near beer and moves to the fridge to get her a bottle of water and hands it to her.

“Ten years ago, did you date my mom, Santana Lopez?” Isabela asked and watched as Charlie’s body tensed for a moment. She smiles, “I told _you_ , I’m your daughter!” She says cheerfully taking another bite of Charlie’s cupcake.

Charlie turned to look at Isabela for a moment studying her, walking into her apartment like she owned the place. Taking her food like it was hers. How could she have possibly missed it? But the truth was she was positive that Santana didn’t want anything to do with her. “Look—kid, I’m not your—I’m not your mother.” She was rewarded with Isabela staring at her like she was an idiot. It was such a familiar gaze that she actually nearly balks under it. “What do you want from me?”

Bela takes another bite of the cupcake chewing on it slowly as she eyed her mother, “I want you to come home with me,” she says at it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Charlie stares at the kid who is claiming to be her daughter who is smiling at her with that floppy hat and the scarf and she frowns ever so slightly. She wasn’t doing this, “I think—I need to call the cops,” she says slowly moving to go grab her phone. The police would know what to do with a strange kid who thought she was her mother. She vaguely remembered the Dr. Seuss book of the baby bird asking random things if it was its mother. She wondered if that was the case here.

“I’ll tell them that you kidnapped me,” Isabela said finishing off the cupcake and looking for another watching as Charlie froze. Isabela smiles smugly, “I’m a kid so they’ll believe me and I can cry really well.”

Charlie twitched, with her history with Santana, and her personal history the cops might actually believe the kid. She wanted to bang her head against the wall, she was being blackmailed by a child. Held hostage and all she had really wanted today was to celebrate her birthday in peace and go to bed and go to work the next morning. She didn’t want to go to prison. “Well we definitely know who one of your mother’s is,” she mumbles and reaches for her keys.

Isabela smiled at the fact that Charlie was doing what she wanted. She quickly follows her other mother. “Can we get more cupcakes for the drive?” Isabela asks, still slightly hungry. “It tasted like bacon and that’s my favorite thing in the world.”

Charlie eyed the strange kid and closed her eyes, of course it was. She was quiet as they headed down to the garage and she opened her truck for Isabela, she frowns and looks at the kid who is much shorter than she is. “Do you need one of those chairs?”

“I’m _ten_ , not five!” Isabela says crinkling her nose at Charlie and giving her another look like she was an idiot. Charlie opens the door for her and Isabela realizes it’s pretty high off the ground and she looks at Charlie expectantly.

Charlie sighs and hoists the kid into the seat, she should probably ask more questions but this was weird even for her. She watches as Isabela puts on her seatbelt before closing the door and moving to the other side. She could already hear the death march in her head. She was going to be arrested and thrown in prison on her birthday. All she had wished for was a bit of happiness, she didn’t want her life to be turned upside down. She settles into her seat and puts on her seat belt, and starts the engine turning on the heater. “Where are we going?” Charlie asks after a moment.

“Philadelphia, I took a bus to get here and I found your address on the internet.” Isabela informed Charlie. “Can we get something to eat though?”

Charlie sighed, “Fine we’ll stop at McDonalds and you can get a happy meal,” Charlie says and she’s met with a look of disgust on Isabela’s face. “Of course you don’t like McDonalds.” She says shaking her head.

“Can we go to Panera?” Isabela asks giving Charlie her most innocent look that always worked most of the time on her mother.

“Fine,” Charlie says with a sigh. It was a two hour drive to Philly maybe if she was eating she wouldn’t talk and she could try and figure things out.

“Sweet, now we can talk about how you’re the savior!” Isabela says reaching for her backpack.

“What?” Charlie asks turning to look at Isabela who has pulled out a book.

“You’re the savior, you’re supposed to save my mom. She’s been really sad lately. You’re supposed to save her and make her happy again and give her a happy ending.” Isabela said in a matter of fact tone. “Don’t worry, we’ll come up with an amazing plan and we’ll find mom her happy ending! We should start going over the plan!”

Charlie stared at her Isabela for a long moment this was going to be a long three hour drive.

* * *

 

They had done this routine a million times, Isabela was _ten_ and she knew better than to talk to strangers, she had taught her the stranger song. But she was just ten—she could have been taken by pedophiles.  “I want a fucking amber alert and call in the fucking coast guard. Look on the goddamn sex offender registry and tear down their apartments! Who knows how long she’s been missing,” Santana said. Today was not the day for this and she needed to find her daughter before she cracked. She had been late, this was her fault but she had needed to go to the hospital for some tests which hadn’t been good and she had come home to find her daughter missing.  

“Santana you need to breathe,” Dani said calmly looking at her ex-girlfriend. She still didn’t even understand why Santana had broken things off, but it was recent and she had thought that things were good between them. “We’ll find her. I’ve already got half the force out looking for her, trust me we are cracking skulls. We’ll find her.” Dani reached forward and rubbed Santana’s arms gently.

Santana jerked her arm away from Dani. This wasn’t the time to rehash their recent arguments. “ _Bela_. Is missing Dani I just want my daughter home and back. She was supposed to be with Brittany, I just had a few appointments!” Santana said her composure breaking. She had always thought that it happened to other kids not her.

“Santana, we’ll find her. I promise,” Dani promised. “She’s important to me as well, remember?” Dani said as her radio crackled to life. “What was she wearing?”

“Her school uniform, oh god that’s practically like pedophile bait.” Santana said her mind was going to all sorts of dark places. She barely heard the roar of the old truck pulling up into her driveway and she turned to look at the beaten up red pickup truck that just pulled into her driveway.  Santana watched as one of the doors opened and she heard the sound of feet hitting the ground.

“Mom!” Isabela said as she moved into view and paused when she saw Dani and finally noticed the squad cars. “What’s going on?”

Santana took one look at her daughter and practically rushed over and wrapped her arms around her tightly practically squeezing the life out of her, “You had me worried sick,” Santana says and turns to the truck again ready to thank the person who had brought her daughter back to her. The smile and grateful look disappears and it warps into one of horror as Charlie steps out of the car and fixes her jacket in the cold winter air. “ _You_. What the _hell_ were you doing with my daughter?” Santana snaps, watching as Charlie flinches.

Dani moves immediately, “Hands against the truck!” She says, Charlie complies and she quickly pats her down before grabbing her by the arms and pulling them behind her back so she can cuff her. “You fucked over the wrong person.” Dani hisses as she begins to Mirandize Charlie.

Bela stared and pulled away from her mother and glared at Dani. “Stop it! You’re messing it all up just like you messed everything else up!” She says angrily towards Dani. “I went to go get her so she could make my mom happy! She bought me Panera and gave me a cupcake that tasted like bacon. Let her go! She’s weird, but she’s my mom!”

Dani freezes and looks at Charlie who hadn’t been resisting and had mumbled that she understood her rights. Dani turns to look at Santana her jaw going slightly slack, was this why they had broken up? “This is Bela’s mom? You mean the _drug addict_?”

Santana pales for a moment and looks over at Bela who looks slightly confused. Hopefully she doesn’t quite understand just yet, she had never told Bela.  “Bela you need to go inside now.” Santana says firmly. She couldn’t handle all this not today. Not after the news that she had just gotten. Santana pushes Bela towards the door and looks at Charlie who still hasn’t really looked at her, her blonde hair covering her face. “Dani let her go.”

“Are you sure?” Dani asks and frowns when Santana nods. She grits her teeth at this and grips Charlie’s writs again accidentally making the cuffs too tight causing Charlie to hiss out in pain. Dani smirks pleased with herself and undoes the cuffs before she shoves Charlie forward towards Santana. She places a hand on her gun just in case. You never could tell with these drug addicts.

Charlie rubs her wrists and looks at Santana for a moment and then at Isabela and then at Dani, she could tell that she wasn’t really wanted. “Look—I’m just dropping off the kid. I’m going to go back to New York now,” Charlie said pulling away and moving back to her truck.

Bela frowned at this new piece of information. “You can’t go! You’re the savior you’re supposed to give my mom a happy ending.” Bela said forcefully close to throwing a tantrum as she moved to go to Charlie again. She feels her mom grip onto her arm holding her back. “You’re my _mother_ —”

Charlie tensed for a moment at that, she wasn’t a parent. She wasn’t much of anything really, and she turns to Bela, she really didn’t want to break the kid’s heart or anything. “Look kid—” Charlie begins rubbing her wrist.

“ _Isabela_ I said _inside_ now. We’ll talk about how you ran away and nearly gave me a heart attack,” Santana snaps at her daughter who huffs but doesn’t argue and storms inside. Santana watches until she sees the door slam shut and rolls her eyes. Her daughter was a little drama queen and she didn’t understand where she got it from. Santana turns to Charlie who is looking past her for a moment towards the door and she frowns. “Are you high?”

“No.” Charlie’s curt answer came. She just wanted to go home, and pretend that none of this that happened. She was really good at denial and this was far too much for her. “Look I better get heading home. You should probably talk to her or something.” Charlie says and reaches for the door handle to her truck.

Santana sighed and rubbed her hands, asking her was fair. The last time she had seen Charlie—she shivers and she wonders if it’s because it’s freezing or because that memory had bothered her to no end. But she had needed to force Charlie to hit rock bottom.  Santana exhales. “She’s yours—I couldn’t you were an addict and I refused to—”

“No.”  Charlie says not turning around. “No. She’s not mine.” Charlie says the words come out before she can think about them. But she’s too much of a fuck up to have that type of responsibility.

Anything that she felt for Charlie evaporates as she stares incredulously at her ex-girlfriend. “Do you honest to fucking god think I cheated on you? _Me_?”

“Yes—I mean I don’t know—but I honestly don’t want any trouble with you or your cop-girlfriend here. I swear she just showed up at my door, I was just getting back from work. All I know she’s not mine and I should probably get back. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow and it’ll be after midnight by the time I get back.” Charlie says as she opens the door to her truck and slips into it. She can’t look at Santana as she says these words she knows she can’t.  

It hurts, even though she had expecting Charlie to duck out of the responsibility. It hurts more than she could ever imagine and she was sure she was over her ex-girlfriend so this betrayal, the idea that Charlie thinks that she cheated hurts more than she can bear it. She hadn’t been the one to torpedo the relationship. It was Charlie’s fault. “Charlie she’s _yours_.”

“Prove it,” Charlie says finally turning to look at Santana, swallowing as she met her eyes and saw the hurt etched on her face. Even after all these years that was all she was good for. She just needed to get home and pretend that this never happened. To not look back, this was just a very large blip that didn’t change anything. Charlie quickly turns back to her car and fiddles with her keys slumping a bit.

Santana’s anger returns but it’s much more subdued. “Fine leave. It’s better that she doesn’t know you.”

Charlie nods, it’s the words she’s looking for the ones that absolves her of all her sins. “Yeah, you’re right.” She doesn’t say anything more she doesn’t say goodbye she just gets in her red truck and slams the door and pulls out of the driveway and practically speeds away.

Santana slumps deflating as she watches the car speed off, she wants to say something but there’s nothing that comes out. Come back, is one of them but Isabela’s safety is her number one priority and she needs to be a parent right now. Which means throttling her daughter for pulling such a dangerous and reckless stunt. Something could have happened.

“What a bitch.” Dani says and watches as Santana turns on her.

“What the hell were you thinking bringing that up in front of Bela? She’s ten, she didn’t need to know that her mother is a drug addict!” Santana hisses at Dani.

Dani raises her hands defensively. “It was the truth! And you should be worried, who knows what the hell she could have picked up from her. You should check her bags, kids pick things up all the time. Or what she was exposed to. Just like it’s the truth that she’s a bitch. Who doesn’t claim their child? The way I see it you and Bela are better off without her in your life. Drug addicts just sort of suck the life out of the people around them and they destroy happiness.” Dani exhales a bit and looks at Santana who is thinking about what she just said. “Look Santana, I have some friends in the NYPD say the word and I can make her life miserable. She’s an addict which means she probably has some drugs—if you’re ever worried about her influencing Bela in anyway. Just say the word.”

Santana frowns she can hear the slight jealousy in Dani’s voice and an eagerness to please. She hadn’t seen or talked to Charlie in about ten years. She didn’t even have time for Charlie’s drama in her life to begin with. But she wasn’t going to punish her. “She’s Bela’s other mother. So no. Leave her alone Dani. Look it’s been a long day and I need to go throttle my daughter and do some damage control. I’ll call you—thank you. Thank the police department as well for me.” Santana says and pulls away from Dani ignoring the fact that he face fell. Today just wasn’t her day. Santana walks back to her old house and sighs a bit as she sees the front curtain shift. She opens the door and watches as Bela is giving her an annoyed look.

“Dani chased her away! She was supposed to stay and help you find your happy ending mom!” Bela said angrily. Or _be_ her mother’s happy ending. She had taken a two hour bus ride and used her Aunt Brittany’s credit card to pay for a taxi to Charlie’s place.

Santana sighs, “Bela.” She says firmly and Bela’s anger dissipates at least for now.

“Is she—did she really do drugs?” Isabela asks and frowns. Drugs were bad, her mom had told her so. They ruined people’s lives.

Santana sighs this isn’t the conversation she wants to have with Bela, she had planned to tell her daughter when she was older but time wasn’t on her side these days. But she’s still far too young to understand. “Bela,” Santana repeats. “It’s complicated,” she finally manages to get out.

Bela frowned, she hated when adults said that like she couldn’t understand some basic things. “You told me that you loved her! More than anyone!” Bela says angrily. “So uncomplicated it!”

Santana sighs, “I also told you that she broke my heart Bela, that isn’t just an easy fix. Besides I love you. You’re my happy ending. I have a beautiful daughter, who I love very much and I’m happy with you.”

“She’s your happy ending!” Bela said stubbornly. She had seen her mom and she’d been sad and she really didn’t like Dani at all. They fought all the time. And Charlie was nice to give her a cupcake and she had taken her where she had wanted to go. She had even stopped at a rest stop and bought her some candy and waited outside the door for her in the bathroom. Even though she said she really didn’t need to.

Santana bit her lip, not quite sure how to tell her daughter the truth. “Look Bela—Charlie—” She sighs not quite sure how to put it. But Bela is obsessed with fairy tales right now and she bites her lip. “For some people there is no happily ever after Bela.  I think Charlie falls into that category.” Santana said gently. But Bela frowned at that information, not quite being able to process it. She blamed Disney.

Bela frowned, “Everyone deserves a happy ending and she was _really_ nice to me!” Bela said before turning around and storming upstairs.

Santana groaned, today was not her day. She sighs, between Isabela, Charlie, the hospital she just couldn’t catch a break. She wants a drink and smirks for a moment at the thought of drinking away today’s events before pausing and realizing that she’s supposed to be furious with her daughter for putting her through hell. It was going to be a long week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also want to mention, that I do have a tumblr and a patreon. You get an idea of where my updates are, and you can donate if you want to.   
> http://astarpen.tumblr.com/  
> https://www.patreon.com/astarpen


	2. Chapter 2

“I’m sorry Ms. Lopez but your immune system will be severely compromised after your chemotherapy, you won’t be able to be around your daughter for a bit. I understand how difficult it is but the truth is children are relative petri dishes of infection. We don’t want you getting sick Santana. Also the chemotherapy drugs that we are giving you are exceptionally hazardous and they pass through the body in our waste products, so urine, vomit and stool. So you’re going to need to take some extra precautions. All of this information is in your packet that I gave you, but it’s important for your daughter’s safety as well that you take it seriously.” Dr. Emma Pillsbury said as she adjusted the pens on her desk.

Santana’s hands shook as she flipped through the packet that the doctor had given her, this would be so much easier if she could just stay in Philadelphia and get her treatment there, but crossing state lines meant that her condition would be kept a secret for now. Only a few people knew of her diagnosis and she knew soon enough it would be difficult to hide it from the general public if she stayed in Philly. “What am I supposed to do with my daughter then?” Since Bela’s little jaunt to New York to drag Charlie back into her life even briefly, she had taken to dragging her everywhere. To work, to school, to her extracurricular activities. She wasn’t letting her daughter out of her sight. She had made her sit outside quietly, she wasn’t quite ready to tell her daughter her diagnosis. It still didn’t feel real. She was young, she was supposed to have a full life ahead of her.

“Truthfully I think that you need to sit her down and tell her Ms. Lopez, she need to understand what’s going on. Kids are incredibly resilient and you’d be surprised at what they can handle. As for where to put her I suggest her other parent if they’re still in the picture or perhaps with friends, a babysitter even. There is a service for single mothers with smaller children, however she’s a bit old for that.” Emma said and watched as Santana made a face. “I know it’s difficult—”

“Do you?” Santana says snapping at her and closing her eyes. It wasn’t Emma’s fault, this wasn’t anyone’s fault. But how could this happen to her. She wants to cry but then Bela would ask her, she didn’t even know how to tell her. “Her other mother—isn’t in the picture.” Maybe it hadn’t been the best time to break up with Dani. At least Dani had showed up, even if Bela didn’t like her. Maybe she should tell her, it would make things easier. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I know the diagnosis isn’t god Santana but people have beaten this.” Emma said. “There isn’t any right way to handle this, but you’re on the right path. I know this is life-altering but your chemo schedule is right there. This is going to be difficult to hide and you’re going to be exhausted, what is it that you do again?”

“A crisis consultant, I have clients that I need to manage—scandals to clean up. I can’t just not show up,” Santana said. Or take a break, her job didn’t quite work like that and she was going to need to focus on managing this situation. It had always been so much easier to deal with people’s shit then to deal with her life and now she needed a crises consultant herself. “I’ll figure it out. I can work while still getting chemo right?”

“You can, but stress right now isn’t the best idea you need to work, on getting better.” Emma said but she could see that her advice was falling on deaf ears. “It’s okay to ask for help Santana, you don’t have to be a superwoman all the time.”

“I have a daughter out there that needs me to keep it together and I honestly have no one else to depend on but myself, so I don’t have the luxury of just falling apart and taking some vacation.” Santana said briskly, she wasn’t weak. She was Santana Lopez, if anyone could beat cancer it was her. She lets out a shaky breath. “I’ll have things arranged and I’ll read over the pamphlets that you gave me and if I have any questions?”

“Inside the folder you’ll find my personal number, I like to make myself available to my patients, if you have any questions or are panicking, please call me. I’ll pick up,” Emma promises. “This is a battle and you’re not going to have to fight it alone.” Emma smiles at Santana who nods at her and begins to pack up all the documentation and puts it in her purse. Emma gets up to walk Santana out, she was used to this. Some people were in a state of denial up until their first chemo session. After something like that, it was generally hard to remain in denial much longer. “It’s also important to have a support system Santana, someone you can turn to when things get hard.”

“Got it,” Santana mumbled just needing some air as she straightened her clothes. She’d need to talk it over with Brittany, after her first session she’d see how she was handling it before she decided to fill other people in on it. She opened the door and was eternally grateful that Bela hadn’t run off to go find Charlie and was instead doing her homework without being told. Miracles did happen, “Alright Bela—time to head home. Do you want us to stop somewhere for dinner? Maybe pick up a few snacks before we head home?”

Bela looked up at her mother and frowned slightly, it was weird that her mom had driven to New York just to see a doctor. They had plenty of doctors in Philadelphia. “I did all my homework,” Bela says as she puts her notebook and binder away. “I also studied for my spelling test—since we’re here do you think we can see Charlie?”

Santana tenses for a moment, Isabela hadn’t brought that name up in days and she had hoped that experiment was over. “Bela we can’t just show up unannounced,” Santana said looking away when Bela gave her a look, she could see the disappointment in Bela’s eyes. It only made her angrier that Charlie wasn’t even going to make an effort. It was a difficult balance, because there was a huge part of her that was glad that Charlie had stayed away. Yes Charlie hadn’t known about Bela’s existence but that was for a good reason. She had been addicted to drugs. Leaving had been the right decision. The only decision. “Bela, when I left your mother—you need to understand—”

Bela squinted and blinked and pulled away from her mother, “She’s here,” Bela said and smiled at her mom before taking off after the blonde who she had spotted. She had told mom everything that happened with Charlie, even the fact that Charlie had treated her like a little kid and she was sure that she had seen something in her mother’s eyes. Dani had ruined it and Charlie had fled, but Dani wasn’t here and now her mom could get her happy ending. Even if Charlie was a bit weird and quiet and passive. Bela smiled, if Charlie was around she’d probably be able to get her to buy her whatever she wanted with just a pout. It had taken years for her mom to build up resistance to the pout. Charlie would be putty in her hands. “Charlie!” Bela said skidding as Charlie turned.

Quinn turned, it was a reflex people had often gotten the two of them mixed up as children. Especially from back when they used to wear the same outfits because her mother thought it was adorable. She was sure she had found it annoying back then too. To this day she wasn’t sure if her real name was Charlie and Charlie’s real name wasn’t Quinn. It made her head hurt to think about it, and she glanced around before settling on a kid with raven hair and hazel eyes who latched onto her arm and began to tug her. Quinn looked around at the nurses for help, only to notice they were simply watching the scene interestedly. She groaned as she followed the kid, not quite knowing what to do. “I think—” Quinn begins.

“Mom’s here now Charlie, so now you can be her happy ending,” Bela said ignoring the stares that she was getting from the nurses who were now glaring at Quinn.

Quinn blinked suddenly realizing what it looked and sounded like and paled, she wasn’t having some affair. She didn’t even know this kid, and she could already hear the whispers. This is what happened when the nurses loved Rachel more than they loved Dr. Fabray. She was going to need to stop Rachel from coming to visit her at work with a batch of cookies for them to snack on. She wasn’t cheating on Rachel, she was happy with her family. They were even thinking of expanding now that Beth was eight. The gap was a bit wide but Rachel wanted another child. She sighs, she didn’t even know that Charlie was seeing anyone. But clearly she hadn’t mentioned that she had a twin. Not that it was unusual, no one at work knew that she had a twin. They didn’t really move in the same circles anymore. Charlie was a contractor, and she was a surgeon. Though last time she checked Charlie’s business was relatively successful. “Um I think you have the wrong—Santana?” Quinn said as Bela finally pulled her to someone she hadn’t seen in years. It was like she had dropped off the face of the earth. In the shit-storm that followed, Quinn couldn’t really say she blamed her.

Bela smiled at Santana, “Told you mom, I found her. Can she join us for dinner?” Bela asked completely unaware that she had grabbed the wrong Fabray twin.

“Mom?” Quinn said and studied Bela for a moment before it clicked, she looked to be around ten years old which was around the time that Santana was dating Charlie, during the height of Charlie’s drug addiction and Quinn froze. “Holy. Shit.”

Bela’s nose crinkled and she looked up at Quinn suddenly realizing that she was in blue scrubs. “Do you work at the hospital to? You told me you fixed things, like houses and stuff.” She pauses for a second, “Are you sick?”

Because her life couldn’t possibly get more complicated, “That isn’t Charlie Bela, that’s her identical twin sister Quinn,” Santana explained watching as her daughter’s eyes became comically large. Santana turned back to Quinn who was still seemed relatively speechless. “Quinn.”

Quinn tore her eyes away from Isabela for a moment and looked at Santana and then back at Bela, her mind finally kicking into gear. “Does Charlie know?” If Charlie had a damn kid for ten years and had kept it from her and her mother and the rest of their family. She was a dead man walking.

“I have an aunt? That looks just like Charlie?” Bela said excitedly, turning to Santana who nods tersely.

Quinn turns to Bela, well that seemed to answer the question. “Pleased to meet you—”

“Isabela—but everyone just calls me Bela.” Bela says holding out her hand and grinning when Quinn shakes it. “This is so totally cool! How do I tell you apart?”

“I’m the prettier one,” Quinn says with an amused smile and Bela laughs. Quinn looks at Santana who is fiddling through her purse and pulls out some cash.

“Bela can you get me a drink from the machine and get yourself one as well, it’s just down the hall.” Santana said, her tone holding that mothering quality that left no room for arguing.

Bela huffed but took the money, “I’ll be right back,” Bela said before taking off to quickly complete the errand her mom had given her.

Santana waits until she’s out of earshot and Quinn turns to her looking at her expectantly. “Charlie only found out recently. Bela crossed state lines to find her, I’m guessing she didn’t tell you,” Santana said with a slight frown. “Is she still using?”

Well she was only going to murder her sister a tiny bit then. Quinn flicked her eyes down the hall watching as Bela inspected the machine and looked at Santana again. “Charlie hasn’t relapsed in years, she’s been clean for the past nine years—is she coming to see her regularly? Where are you? We should have a get together, Beth and Bela are close enough in age that they could be like best friends Santana!”

Santana closed her eyes a bit, and shook her head. “Charlie’s pretending that Bela isn’t hers, and I don’t have the heart to tell Bela the news yet. I don’t even know how to tell her the news, and honestly I don’t want Charlie involved, I can’t—trust her with my daughter. Charlie may be clean right now but the last time I saw her she was popping pills and snorting cocaine. I can’t expose Bela to that and honestly I have more pressing matters than to worry about Charlie right now.”

Quinn froze at the words and studied Santana suddenly noticing the pamphlets in her purse that were sticking out. The only brightly pamphlets that were given out were given by—“You’re sick.”

“It’s none of your business Quinn. Look just forget that you saw me and Bela. Charlie certainly has, and Bela already has this idea that Charlie’s my happy ending. I don’t need you making the issue worse. Charlie’s a stranger to her, and that’s how I want it to stay. So you showing up uninvited, will confuse her and worst still it will make her want Charlie around. So please Quinn, please just stay away.”

Quinn stares at Santana for a moment, like hell that was going to happen. She had a niece that she could spoil, and Beth had a cousin, she wasn’t going to deny her own kid the chance of knowing more of her family. As for Charlie denying the kid, well that wouldn’t last very long. “Santana—we can help. Emma’s an excellent oncologist one of the best—but we can babysit while you’re in the city. Beth’s nine Santana, they could be really close friends. Rachel spends most of the afternoons trying to get Beth doing more activities, you could—”

“Quinn, I said no. I raised her for ten years without your family’s influence, and she’s perfect. I don’t need you Fabray’s infecting her—or her learning hobbit things from Rachel. I just want to raise my daughter in peace.”

“They were out of sprite or 7-up, so I got you root beer.” Bela said as she held the cold drink up for her mom. She glances at her new found aunt, “So are you married?”

“Bela.” Santana said sternly and looked at Quinn who was about to answer. “Quinn got called, she needs to go save lives or whatever it is she does and if we don’t leave now it’ll be hours before we get home. So let’s go.” Santana said.

“But mom!” Bela said, even though she had heard the tone in Santana’s voice, begging wasn’t going to help. Bela sighs and looks at Quinn who has raised a brow and smiles at her. “Bye Aunt Quinn,” she says as she follows her mom.

Quinn waves to Bela and immediately fishes out her phone and dials Rachel, she needs to inform her wife that she’s going to murder her twin, so she can prepare the bail money. Truthfully she wants to get her shots in before Judy rains holy hell down on Charlie’s head. She had been complaining about the lack of children and trying to set Charlie up for years. “Rachel? Yeah you wouldn’t believe who I just saw and what I just found out.” Quinn says quickly into the phone. Her next patient could wait five minutes.

Rachel flipped through her latest script as she glanced over at Beth who was busy working on her homework. “Breath Quinn,” Rachel said and looked up at Beth who pushed her homework forward and she began to check it. She frowned slightly and tapped a math problem that was incorrect and pushed it back to Beth.

“I just ran into Santana, Rachel she has a kid.” Quinn said bluntly just cutting to the chase. “Charlie’s kid.” Quinn clarified. “So we’re clear you need to get the bail money ready cause I’m going to murder her.”

Rachel dropped her script, “What?”

* * *

 

Charlie slowly unpacked the cupcake she had gotten from the bakery, she was trying again. She had just been to a meeting and had talked with her sponsor. If making a wish had completely upended her life, perhaps another wish would make things normal again. She was grateful, she was healthy, and she had a business. Her life was fine, there was order to it. She got up every morning at six am, brushed her teeth, showered, had some breakfast and she was off to a client where she generally spent the entire day fixing up a house or building something, and dealing with issues that arose when her guys decided to goof off. She generally skipped lunch and worked until it was dark before calling it a day after securing everything. Then she’d drive to a meeting if there was one and she needed to go, or go have coffee with her sponsor. When she felt that she wasn’t in control anymore she’d go for a run. Getting a bacon flavored cupcake was a treat that she reserved for special occasions and wishing her life would go back to normal was a special occasion.

She set up the cupcake and placed the candle in it lighting it. She went to the fridge and grabbed herself a near beer and she placed it next to the cupcake. She closed her eyes and blew out the candle after making her wish. She waited for a few moments before popping off the cap to her near beer and taking a sip relaxing. Maybe she could listen to music or watch some sporting event to talk to the guys about tomorrow. She picks up her cupcake and is about to bite into it when there’s a pounding at her door and Charlie closes her eyes, and puts the cupcake down. If this was some kid claiming to be her daughter again she was done. Absolutely done. She slowly makes her way to the door of her apartment and looks through the peephole and relaxes for a moment. It’s just Quinn. She opens the door for Quinn, who was probably just going to lecture her and tell her to show up for the dinners that Rachel prepared and being more involved in the family. “Quinn I’ve been—” The crack of Quinn slapping her echoes through her apartment and Charlie stumbles back landing on her ass as she clutches her cheek. Charlie stares up at Quinn still holding her cheek. Getting slapped by Quinn still hurt like a bitch. “Did I forget Beth’s birthday again?” She was sure she had put it in her phone and she rubbed her cheek.

Quinn stared at her twin incredulously, “No you idiot, her birthday was six months ago. You took her to the mall and got her a new iPhone even though we didn’t think she needed the newest phone! We were trying to teach her that material goods aren’t as important as who you are on the inside and you got her a brand new phone, which she only wanted because all her friends had it.”

Charlie rubs her cheek and slowly gets up, “I didn’t know—it’s not like anyone told me that I couldn’t. I don’t know what nine year olds want Quinn, and she’s my niece. Plus I totally forgot her birthday and I felt bad,” Charlie said slowly, trying to defend herself. She had been defending herself since the 800 dollar purchase of an unlocked iPhone, which had made her the favorite aunt again.

“You know what? I was mad at you but Rachel reminded me that you don’t have children so you don’t really know what it is like to have a kid. But now you can experience the joys of parenthood and finally appreciate how difficult it is to raise a kid in the era of social media!” Quinn said throwing her hands up and moving into the apartment.

“I don’t have a kid so I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Charlie said.

Quinn blinked she had thought Santana was joking when she said that Charlie wouldn’t claim her child, now that she thought about it Isabela did look like her. “Bullshit, I saw her today. She was so fucking happy to see you. She thought I was you and she practically dragged me towards Santana. Yep, saw her as well. It was nice catching up to my former best friend—you know, up until she told me that you refused to claim your kid. You’re lucky she told me that you didn’t know about her or I swear to god Charlie I would have murdered you. How could you keep something like that from us, let alone pretending for ten years that she wasn’t your kid?”

“She’s not mine,” Charlie repeated stubbornly, watching as Quinn picked up her cupcake and bit into it angrily. Charlie sighed, she was never making a wish again. No wonder people always said to be careful what you wished for.

“Again. bullshit,” Quinn said as she finished the cupcake off. “She looks like me. Which means she looks like you!” Quinn said taking Charlie’s near beer and taking a sip of it.

“Well then I should congratulate you on another child,” Charlie says dryly.

Quinn frowns at this response, “You think I slept with Santana? I was engaged to Rachel. I didn’t sleep with your girlfriend, and Santana didn’t cheat on you. I’m surprised she didn’t fucking murder you for that implication the Santana I know wouldn’t have stood for it.” But then again, Santana did have other things to worry about. “How did you even find out that you had a child?”

“I don’t have a child. A kid knocked on my door on my birthday and basically informed me that she’s my daughter. She isn’t though, and I was going to call the cops, but she said she’d tell them that I kidnapped her.” Quinn snorts at this. “She told me that I’m her mother’s happy ending and drags me to Philadelphia where I nearly got arrested for kidnapping anyway by Santana’s cop girlfriend or wife or whatever.” Charlie said crinkling her nose. “She’s not mine.”

Quinn stared at Charlie for a moment, watching as her twin went to go pour herself a glass of water. “Have you been going to your meetings?”

“Yes and I’ve been seeing my sponsor,” Charlie stated simply. The moment that she had gotten back to the city that night she had knocked on her sponsor’s door well after midnight and slept on his couch. She had gone back to her routine after that and shoved the thoughts of Bela and seeing Santana to the furthest recesses of her mind.

“Then I don’t see why you’re denying her. She’s clearly your kid Charlie.” Quinn was relieved that Charlie hadn’t relapsed with this new knowledge. Sure she liked her routine, disruption to her routine wasn’t appreciated, she wasn’t anal about her routine but according to her it helped. But this was her daughter.

“She isn’t and there isn’t a point to claiming her as mine. Santana has a good life, she’s probably super successful at work, plus she’s dating a cop. I can barely remember what day it is half the time, let alone Beth’s birthday, and as you pointed out earlier, still an addict.” Charlie exhales at this. “You’re a doctor, you go be her parent.”

“She’s your responsibility Charlie. If she was mine you know damn well that I’d be there getting to know her and spending time with her. Introducing her to the rest of the family. Beth has a cousin. Look I get that you were still in some sort of shock but you can’t just shirk your damn responsibility to that kid.”

“She’s not mine and are we forgetting that I’m not very good with children and with my history—” Charlie’s hazel eyes flick down and she studies her floors. She wonders if she could replace them for her landlord and maybe do some renovations to keep her busy. “Isabela needs to have good role models. I mean I think that’s important for children, right? It’s why you didn’t let me anywhere near Beth for the first five years of her life. I’m not angry, or accusing you of anything. But it’s best for all parties involved if I just stay away, especially since she’s not mine.”

There’s a bit of guilt, Rachel had pushed for Charlie to spend some more time with Beth when she was younger to let Charlie be a part of her life. Quinn had been the one to insist that Charlie had needed to be clean for five years before she’d even let Charlie see her. “So you’re okay with someone else taking care of your responsibility? I thought that part of the twelve step program was making amends to all the people you hurt? Do you honestly think that pretending she’s not yours, is going to absolve you of all the shit you’ve pulled? Let alone all the people you’ve hurt?”

“I’m not in a twelve-step program,” Charlie points out, she shrugs she didn’t expect Quinn to get it let alone pay attention to her recovery steps. She had needed to do it alone, with Quinn coming to check up on her to make sure she hadn’t overdosed every now and again. Her family wasn’t there when she made it a year, or five years. She doubted they’d be there when she finally got her ten year coin in a few weeks. “Having someone else take the responsibility is better than her knowing me. Bela doesn’t need me in her life. Truthfully neither does Santana. The kid is happy and she seems well-adjusted. Santana kept her from me for a reason—if she is even mine.”

“The moment that she walked through that door Charlie, you lost your excuse of not knowing. Which is a very good excuse by the way. So yeah she might grow up well-adjusted or she could grow up obsessing over why you never claimed her as your own. She’ll grow up wondering why you missed all her birthdays. She’ll know that you were never there to check under the bed and in the closets that there weren’t any Gremlins because your wife thought it was a good idea to let her watch the movie before bed. She’ll wonder if there’s something wrong with her because you weren’t there to deal with her first heartbreak. Why you won’t walk her down the aisle when she gets married.”

“Claim her? What good will that do? Santana doesn’t want me in her life—she’s not mine. I blew most of my trust fund on drugs Quinn.”

Quinn rolled her eyes at this. “Raising a kid isn’t about how much you have in the bank. Besides last time I checked you only blew a small percentage of your trust fund on drugs, before dad found out and cut you off. But I’ve talked to him about it and all you need to do is take a drug test bi-monthly to start accessing your money—”

“You mean through you right?” Charlie asks. “Tell dad he can keep his money, I don’t need it. It’s not what I meant anyway. I meant that I’m irresponsible.” Charlie responds in an irritated tone.

“Maybe ten years ago, but you’re a very successful home improvement contractor Charlie, speaking of which mom would like you to build a gazebo in the summer.” Quinn said remembering. “And of course you want it back, you now have a kid to take care of. They’re expensive. Rachel thinks that Beth might need braces when she’s older. Do you know how expensive orthodontists are?”

Charlie sighed, her mother would call and ask her to fix things up around the house or build her things that she didn’t really need because she wanted to make sure that she wasn’t living in some crack house and give her the opportunity to possibly to reconcile with her father. Russell had cut her off, not that she blamed him in the slightest and she was grateful, but her mother had still found a way to give her money. “It doesn’t matter because she’s not mine.” Charlie says with a shrug.

Quinn stared at Charlie for a moment and exhaled, she had told Rachel about Santana’s illness, and they had worked something out with each other. If Santana was in treatment they could take care of Isabela with Beth, it was a perfect way to give Santana some time to get her treatment and also a way for Beth to get to know her cousin. “Tomorrow you’re going to put on something nice, we’re going to get your kid a present and a card that says ‘sorry I missed the first ten years of your life but I promise to be there for the rest of it.’ We’re going to go to Santana’s house and you’re going to start seeing your daughter regularly. I’m not going to let you screw this up.”

Charlie sighed, Quinn would make her life miserable if she didn’t comply. She just wanted her life to go back to normal. “Santana doesn’t want me in her life and I don’t really want to piss of the police department.”

“It doesn’t matter, she’s your responsibility. You didn’t give her up, you didn’t sign away your rights. You have every right to be in her life. Santana needs to get to know you, so you can show her that you’re not addicted to drugs anymore.” Quinn said dismissively. “So wear something clean that doesn’t have paint chips on it, or holes or is covered in dirt permanently. You don’t want to show Santana that side of you. If you don’t have anything I’ll let you borrow something.”

“I did remind you that her girlfriend is a cop right? And the kid’s not mine right?” Charlie said with a sigh.

Quinn shook her head. “One you don’t honestly believe that she’s not yours. And I suggest that you table that talk for now, she thinks that she’s your daughter. Show some compassion. As for Santana’s cop girlfriend—last time I checked your last name was Fabray. Frannie will have a field day if the police harass you. So think of a good present to get her. I’ll talk to Beth and get some ideas and text them to you tonight.” Quinn said finishing the near beer and putting it on the counter. “Where does Santana live anyway?”

“Philadelphia.” Charlie says.

“I’ll leave work early and we’re taking my car not your clunker that you call a car.” Quinn said with finality, spinning on her heel to leave Charlie’s apartment. She could fix this, and she’d force Charlie to make it right if it killed her.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Charlie was quiet, playing with her sobriety coin nervously as she looked out of Quinn’s Benz at Santana’s house. It looked different when the sun was up, more imposing. That was it, it definitely looked more imposing which was the only reason she was nervous. She ran the coin along her fingers and rubbed at the serenity symbol, she didn’t feel peaceful and calm. She exhaled and looked at the envelope in her hands, containing a gift card for books. Isabela seemed to like books. She had spent most of the two hour trip talking about fairy tales and how she was supposed to be some savior.

Quinn shook her head, “You wouldn’t be nervous if you just wore something clean Charlie. Your jeans have a hole in them and it’s covered in paint splotches. And your shirt is wrinkled. You want to make a better impression on Santana and showing up at her door like that might send the wrong message. And a gift certificate?”

“I don’t know what she likes,” Charlie said frowning slightly. It made sense to her to get her a gift certificate, even if it was to a bookstore. Maybe she should have gotten one to a mall in the area. That way she could get whatever she wanted. She frowns slightly, “Why are we here Quinn? She’s not my daughter and Santana made it clear she wants nothing to do with me. I don’t even know this kid, she’s just a stranger. Who came into my house, ate my food, and then demanded I take her places, after threatening to tell the cops I kidnapped her.”

Quinn arched a brow and watched her twin for a moment, “When you put it like that, it sounds just like how your relationship with Santana started,” Quinn said before opening her car door. It take a moment before Charlie gets out as well and follows her. “You’re good Charlie, you’ve been sober for years. You have a right to get to know your daughter.”

Charlie didn’t say anything she just tucked her coin away and followed Quinn onto the porch. They were going to get arrested, she just knew it. She decides to take her mind of her impending arrest as Quinn presses the doorbell and looks around at the porch. It could do with another coat of paint. Well that and it didn’t seem all that sturdy. Sometimes doing it to code wasn’t enough. “Maybe some Ipé,” Charlie said mostly to herself. She shrugs when Quinn looks at her, and looks at the paint. She’d stain it some dark color so it popped a bit more.

The door opened after a moment and both twins looked at Bela who seemed surprised to see them. “Aunt Quinn? Charlie—you came back!” Bela says moving to wrap her arms around Charlie who lifts her hands up and stares down at her.

“ _Bela_ , what have I told you about opening the door for strangers!” Santana calls wiping her hands on a towel from where she’s making dinner as she moves to the door. “It could be those girl scouts or _worse_ those two weirdos who want us to join their strange cult.” Santana said as she approached the door and stopped when she caught sight of Bela hugging Charlie who had a panicked look on her face.

“It’s so totally cool that you’re identical twins! Do people get you mixed up all the time? How do I tell you two apart?  Aunt Quinn said she was the pretty twin!” Bela whispered the last part to Charlie conspiratorially.

Quinn glanced at Santana and flashed a smile, “Hey Santana, we were in the neighborhood and thought we’d visit.”

Santana gritted her teeth and for a moment she felt a bit of panic in her stomach, wondering if they had come to take her daughter away. Like hell they had driven two hours just to _be_ in the neighborhood. Santana eyed Charlie who unsurprisingly looked a mess, and then turned her attention back to Quinn who was practically daring her to kick them both out. She exhales slowly. She’s not going to give Quinn the satisfaction, they weren’t friends anymore and she didn’t play those type of power games, at least not with her. She turns her attention back to her daughter, who is now looking at her. “Great Bela, you brought them home, so now they won’t ever leave me alone.” She tilts her head back to Charlie and Quinn, “What part of stay away from me and my daughter don’t you understand?” Santana asks turning her attention to Charlie.

Charlie nods at this statement and turns around and begins to move towards Quinn’s car. Quinn rolled her eyes and latched onto Charlie’s shoulder keeping her from bolting. “Well, I thought that you’d like to meet your cousin, so I thought we could facetime.” Quinn tightens her grip on Charlie’s shoulder. “And Charlie got you a present.”

“You did?” Bela said turning to Charlie before looking at Quinn, “I have a cousin?” She was unsure which news excited her more.

“Yes you have another aunt and two grandparents who I’m sure would love to meet you,” Quinn explains nearly yanking Charlie back. “Give her your present Charlie,” Quinn said firmly.

Charlie sighs and looks at Santana, she wanted no part of Quinn’s insane scheme. She had heard Santana’s message loud and clear, and judging from the annoyance and the barely concealed rage on Santana’s face they had overstepped. “I—yeah. I didn’t know what you liked so I went to the bookstore and got you a—um gift card.” Charlie said handing Bela the card. She looks at Santana hoping that it was an acceptable gift, and they did sell toys and some video games at the bookstore these days.

“What do you say Bela?” Santana said immediately.

“I was going to say thank you, geez mom,” Bela said grumbling. But she turns and smiles at Charlie, “How did you know I liked to read?” Bela asked.

“Um, you just—seemed like you did? I didn’t know what books you had so I thought—it’d be best if I got you a card,” Charlie says lamely, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Do you know one of mom’s client’s works at the hospital that you work at? Do you know her? I think that’s why we were in New York.  She’s—” Bela asks turning to Quinn.

“Bela what have I said about discussing what I do with people. My client list is confidential,” Santana says and closes her eyes, she can feel a headache coming on. “Look Bela—can you just play in your room for a bit? Let the grown-ups talk?”

Bela groans at this and takes Charlie’s hand and pulls her towards the door, “Come on Charlie, that’s what mom says when she wants to talk about boring stuff. I want to show you my room.”

Charlie blinked at this, she was sure that Santana said grown-ups, she looks at Santana who steps out of the way with a roll of her eyes. “I—okay—as long as it’s okay with your mom?” Charlie says.

Santana glances at Charlie and waves her off, at least someone was trying to determine what was right for Bela without consulting her. Quinn had some nerve and judging from Charlie’s attitude, she didn’t want to be here in the first place. Santana watches as Charlie gets tugged along by Bela up the stairs and turns to Quinn. “What the _hell_ are you doing, Quinn?”

“Getting to know my niece. You know, your daughter, the one that you kept from Charlie for ten years,” Quinn said crossing her arms over her chest.

“Charlie doesn’t even think Bela is _hers_ , so unless you’ve managed to bully her into it being here I don’t quite see why you’re _here_.” Santana snaps back keeping her voice low and turning to make sure that Bela hadn’t accidentally overheard.

Quinn looked up the stairs, “I don’t think Charlie honestly believes that Bela isn’t hers. So really it was just bullying her to stop ignoring the obvious and deal with her responsibilities. She _does_ have a responsibility to your daughter, one that you should have let her have ages ago.” There was an accusatory note in her voice, and she gave Santana a look. Maybe if Santana had told her, she would have gotten clean sooner, she would have been happy.

Santana scowled at Quinn. “You don’t get it, I left because I didn’t want to have anything to do with you Fabray’s. I didn’t want to be kept like some dirty little family secret, or have your parents trying to tell me how to raise my daughter. Bela is _normal_ , and well adjusted. She isn’t damaged and broken, like the rest of you Fabray’s.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Quinn said, her parents rarely offered her parenting advice. Well that wasn’t completely true, her mother gave her a lot of unsolicited advice. But her parents as a whole loved Beth and spoiled her rotten while making comments about how they wanted more grandkids. But she was pretty sure that’s what most grandparents did. Rachel’s parents did it all the time, especially since Rachel was their only child. She got the brunt of it because she was the only member of her family who was married.

“Let’s see, you’re a narcissistic bitch. You walk in here after ten years and then proceed to _ignore_ me, on how I want _my_ daughter raised. Like you’re in charge of the situation, like you know what’s best for me and Bela. We haven’t talked in ten years because I _knew_ this is what you would do. Judging me and that’s not even enough you have to come in here and try and mess up _my_ life. No matter what, _you’re_ making me out to be the bad guy. She’s _my_ daughter. You don’t see me showing up to your house and telling you to remove the giant _stick_ up your ass. Frannie is probably still a sociopathic bitch bent on world domination, and dealing with things in a ruthless and efficient manner. Oh yes and Charlie is a drug addict, should I go on about how damaged your family is and not wanting my daughter to have to deal with that? Bela is _well-adjusted_.”

“Your daughter threatened to tell the cops that Charlie kidnapped her! How the hell is that well-adjusted? Quinn snaps back at Santana. She’s irritated at her former friend, but when Santana smirks at the information she just gave, Quinn can’t help but smile too. “She’s just like you—look that’s not why I’m really here. I know why you were at the hospital Santana. Don’t worry I didn’t tell Charlie or anyone but Rachel.”

“Of course you told the fucking hobbit,” Santana said with an irritated sigh. “You know, I could sue you for violating HIPPA laws right? You had no right to go into my file.”

“We were _best_ friends, and I know you went to see Emma,” Quinn said quietly, keeping her voice down. “I had to know how bad it was. You would have done the exact same thing in my position.” Quinn exhales and runs a hand through her hair. “I know things are going to be difficult, and I want you to know that even though it’s been ten years. I’m still your friend, if you need a place to drop Bela. Rachel can watch her when you’re doing your treatments.”  

“I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want her anywhere _near_ Charlie for any extended period of time. Look, I’m grateful that she brought her back in one piece and that she took good care of her. But I can’t—it’s something else that I’ll have to worry about and I just can’t spend my time worrying about things like that. Is Charlie doing drugs near my daughter exposing her to things—putting her in some sort of danger?”

“Charlie’s alone with your daughter right now—” Quinn says, but she understood her fears.

“In my house upstairs, and you know as well I as I do that she’d have periods of sobriety and I can’t—”

“I get it, I didn’t let Charlie anywhere near Beth for the first five years of her life. Even though she’d been clean for about six years at the time. You don’t need to explain it to me,” Quinn said quietly. “It took me years of checking on Charlie seeing that she was always sober every single time that I came to visit, before I trusted her. Even then it was supervised visits, Rachel or I had to be there with her. Even now—sometimes I wonder when she takes Beth out—but nothing bad has happened. But I get it. You know Rachel—she hasn’t really changed much. I mean yeah sometimes the fame goes to her head a bit but she still makes those blasted power point presentations. She schedules our vacations together. It’s still Rachel. If you don’t want Charlie alone with her it won’t happen. Cause she gets it too.” Quinn said.

Santana chewed the inside of her cheek thinking about it. Rachel was responsible and anal about things and probably watched her daughter like a hawk while still supporting her. “Isn’t she busy?”

“She’s in between shows right now she’s thinking of branching out and doing television just for a change of pace, so really she’s not that busy,” Quinn said. “She _wants_ to help Santana, and you need help, Beth is family—even if you don’t really like it—we’re family. So let us help, if you need _anything_. Charlie might be trying to duck responsibility, but we won’t. We’ll make sure she does her homework everything you need.”

Santana studied Quinn for a moment, Rachel was probably more responsible than Brittany was sometimes. She didn’t quite understand how you lost a kid. Sure Brittany was still apologizing for letting Bela borrow her credit card and book a bus trip to New York. She didn’t want to leave Bela with Dani. That relationship wasn’t going to get any better if she forced them to spend time together. Which left her parents, she didn’t want to deal with her mother freaking out, or her dad’s tears. She couldn’t handle that on top of everything else. Bela would whine or worse demand that Charlie look after her if she even suggested a babysitter and from Quinn’s words she could tell that Quinn didn’t even completely trust Charlie. “We’ll try it out. But honestly if Charlie is going to pretend that Bela isn’t hers—then just let her Quinn. I’d rather Bela be disappointed now, then let her start falling in love with Charlie only for her to check out.”

Quinn frowns, “Alright, I’ll tell her to stay away from Bela. But the rest of the family they’d want to meet her. My mom wants more grandkids,” Quinn says.

“Look I get it you told the hobbit, but that’s it Quinn I don’t want you telling everyone in your goddamn family about Bela. I’m serious, you Fabrays are all fucking insane,” Santana said firmly.

“Alright, alright—god you’re still such a bitch.” Quinn said holding her hands up, but she smiles. “I’m going to hug you now.”

“Don’t you _dare_!” Santana immediately puts up her hands to stop Quinn from hugging her, but it’s too late and she feels Quinn’s arms wrap around her.  She scowls at her. “Damn Fabray’s.”

* * *

 

Charlie eyed the room that she was currently sitting in. It was very—pink. There were bookshelves and that were filled with books many of which were fairy tales. Some of them were piling up on the ground, “You’re going to need a new shelf,” Charlie mumbles to herself.

“Mom bought me one but we haven’t had time to put it up,” Bela said pointing to the Ikea bookshelf that was still in the box. “Okay I have some questions for you,” Bela pulled out a notebook and flipping to the right page. She eyed Charlie who had moved to the box and was opening it taking out the pieces one by one. “So, what do you _do_ exactly?”

Charlie flicked her eyes to Bela, who was giving her a suspicious look and she bites her lip before looking back at the instructions. “Um, I’m a home contractor—I mostly do renovation work, but I also can build things as well. During the winter, I usually make money by basically dealing with burst pipes.” Charlie answered putting the instructions down. It looked easy enough and she began to put it together.

“So you can help fix things around the house?” Bela presses, grinning and drawing a smiley face next to the question.

“I guess,” Charlie says looking at Bela. “If your mom wants me to.”

Bela smirks at this, “Are you married? Or dating someone?” Bela asks glaring at Charlie.

“No. Are you?”

“Gross! No. I’m _ten_.” Bela huffs and rolls her eyes.

“Good, I think ten is too young to be married anyway,” Charlie says as she puts in one of the screws and begins to tighten them.

“So you have a penis?” Bela asks going back to her interview questions and rolls her eyes when Charlie turns to her. “Relax my mom taught me all about sex, she said it was important.”

“I—well I mean—I don’t think that’s appropriate?” Charlie said but wilts under Bela’s frown. “I—yes?”

“That’s so cool!” Bela says going back to smiling and draws another happy face. This was going much better than she expected but she looks at the next question and glances at Charlie who is still working on her bookshelf. “Are you a bad person?” Charlie turns to her and Bela shrugs. She had heard Dani complaining about dealing with the drug addicts, and how if you used drugs you were a bad person.

Charlie is quiet for a moment and thinks about the question. “Yes, I think so.” It doesn’t seem to be enough and Charlie looks back at the shelf. “I hurt a lot of people before and it’s not an easy fix Bela. But people aren’t just bad or good, they’re both sometimes. But I think I was mostly bad. I hurt the people I care about.”

“Like my mom?” Bela asks.

“Like your mom,” Charlie agrees and begins to screw in the next one, she doesn’t want to see the look on Bela’s face. She isn’t a good person and Bela needed to understand that.

That wasn’t the answer that she wanted that she was hoping for and Bela frowns at this and draws a frowning face on the question. She wanted her mom to be with a good person, maybe Charlie’s redemption was to find her mom her happy ending instead of being it. “Do you still love my mom?”

There’s a bang as Charlie hits her head, once again surprised by the question. It feels like some sort of interview. “Yeah,” she finally says after a moment. “But—I messed that up and it doesn’t matter. Besides isn’t your mom dating that cop?”

Bela crinkled her nose at this. “Dani? I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I took care of it,” Bela said with a pleased smirk. “Now for the super important part, do you like video games?”

“I’ve never played them before,” Charlie said as she puts the finishing touches on the shelf. Bela is quiet and Charlie turns to look at her and frowns at the look of disbelief.

“We’ll fix that right now.” Bela said stopping and looking at the shelf, “Thank you,” she says before grabbing Charlie’s arm and pulling her towards her door only to run into her mother who had come to check in on them. “Charlie built my shelf!”

Santana turned to the shelf and then to Charlie who shuffles under gaze. “I was going to do it this weekend,” Santana says crossing her arms. She didn’t need Charlie _helping_.

“You’ve said that for the past three months,” Bela responds and immediately ducks behind Charlie when her shoots her an annoyed look.

“Your aunt Quinn is calling Beth for you so you can talk to your cousin,” Santana said. “But then they have to get going.”

“They’ll be coming back right?” Bela says immediately. It had been weeks since she had seen Charlie. She hoped she wouldn’t have to wait another month before getting to see her again.

“I’ve got business in New York, so the hobbit—I mean your aunt Rachel is going to be taking care of you and your cousin.”

“What about Charlie?” Bela asks immediately. “I’ve got to show her my video games!”

“I’m sure Charlie’s busy with—whatever it is she does,” Santana responds looking at Charlie and the paint on her jeans.

“I’m a home contractor. I noticed—” Charlie begins wanting to talk to Santana about some water damage that she spotted.

“Oh look a Fabray ripping someone off, how original,” Santana drawled, she waits for the comeback but Charlie doesn’t give one instead shutting herself off. Santana sighs and motions for Bela to follow her. “Charlie has to work. I’m sure that finding people and having missed deadlines is super important.”

Charlie smiles at Bela, “I’ll just go wait in the car then,” she said it was obvious she wasn’t wanted. Not that she could blame Santana one bit.

* * *

 

Charlie rubbed her legs and looked at Quinn who was tapping the steering wheel as they hit traffic. “Maybe I could spend a bit of time with Bela when Santana’s busy?”

Quinn winced at this, “Look Charlie—Santana doesn’t want you around Bela by yourself. She really doesn’t even want my help, but she trusts Rachel’s slight neuroticism better than me. It’s going to take her some time, like it took me to trust you with my daughter.”

“Then why did you insist that I come? I thought I was _supposed_ to get to know her!” Charlie says annoyed. She had been clean for nearly ten years. She was trying her best and it was like there was no one willing to give her the chance. It was tiring.

“You just need to give Santana a bit of leeway Charlie and it’s not about you. It’s about what’s best for Bela, who according to you isn’t even your daughter,” Quinn points out. “Which means it’s weird for you to hang out with her. She’s _ten_.”

“I know—but I just—” Charlie says trying to find the words. But she can’t. She doesn’t quite know how to. “I thought you’d convince Santana that I wasn’t a complete screw up.” Charlie admits.

“What more do you want me to do Charlie? I practically forced us through that door and you were ready to bolt at the first sign that Santana might start breathing fire. Yeah you’ve been clean for a while now, but the last time Santana saw you, you were high most of the time. You got physical with her when she threw away your drugs while you were high. You stole money from her and spent it on drugs, for fuck’s sake Charlie you’re lucky she _let_ you spend time with Bela at all. She needs time to forgive you and then she needs time to trust you. So yes she gets to make that decision and you need to stay away from Bela. Because Bela’s who is important in all this.” Quinn said and looks at Charlie, who nods her head. “So stay away?”

Charlie studies her hands for a moment, “Fine,” she says quietly and looks out the window. She’s quiet for a moment longer, “Bela seems pretty cool though—for a ten year old right?”

 


	4. Chapter 4

Elizabeth Berry-Fabray, Beth for short, didn’t want any siblings. She adored being the sole focus of mothers’ attention and their affection. She wasn’t thrilled to find out she had a cousin, because a cousin meant that she’d have to share the attention. Especially since she was some long-lost cousin or whatever. It also meant that soon she wouldn’t be able to guilt her aunt Charlie into huge presents. So to her, this Isabela was an interloper. An interloper that she had to be nice to when she really didn’t want to. It was unfair, especially since all her parents could talk about was Bela this and Bela that. “Why can’t I go to Jennifer’s place?” She asked for what was probably the millionth time that afternoon.

Rachel groaned inwardly, unsure how many times she’d need to repeat it before Beth finally understood that this wasn’t something that was optional. Quinn had said the prognosis wasn’t good and if that was the case—if the worst happened, then Bela would need family, and that’s what they were.  “Because we’re going to be meeting your cousin for the first time, and I’m going to be seeing a—well Santana and I aren’t exactly close enough to be friends. But she was a big part of my life, and I want to see her and catch up with her. So you will be polite Beth, and you will be welcoming because she _is_ your cousin.”

“But why do we have to meet her _today_!” Beth said. “Jennifer got a new puppy and I wanted to play with him. She’s bringing him home today and I _really_ wanted to go see him.” Beth whined, poking her mother.

Rachel shook her head, “Beth, she’s your cousin and you’re going to end up seeing a lot of her.  Jennifer’s puppy will still be there tomorrow.” Rachel sighs and looks at her daughter, she understood her perfectly. “I know you don’t like it when the spotlight isn’t on you, but family is important. Bela is looking forward to meeting you.”

Beth crinkled her nose, she didn’t really care if Bela wanted to meet her. “I don’t—” she began only to be interrupted by a firm knock on the door.

“She’s here, which means you have to be a gracious host. Who knows, the two of you may have plenty in common. Just make sure you both do your homework before you play.” Rachel reminded her, she would definitely need to have a talk with Quinn about Beth’s entitled behavior. Rachel put on her best stage-smile and opened the door to their apartment. The perfected smile that had enchanted and captivated audiences broke when she saw even the hint of hesitation in Santana’s eyes. Rachel’s lips quivered ever so slightly and she leaned forward despite Santana trying to escape and wrapped her arms tightly around her. “Santana.”

“ _Hobbit_ , get off of me. I don’t want to get dragged to the shire.” Santana said, what was with people and hugging her today. She knew it was her first chemotherapy session but she didn’t need hugs. She needed people to pretend that everything was normal and she wasn’t pumping her body filled with toxic drugs that would all but devastate her insides. The hugging made her generously close to crying and she was Santana fucking Lopez. She only cried when drunk.

Bela watched quietly and looked over at Beth who immediately slapped on her own stage smile. But she saw right through it and Bela reaches for her mom’s free arm. “You can take me to Charlie’s now.”

Santana glanced at her daughter sympathetically, “You’re right, this was a terrible idea. The answer is still no by the way, we aren’t going to Charlie’s, but if you really don’t want to stay in a shire I suppose I can have you sit in the waiting room?” Maybe Quinn could keep her company for now.

Bela crinkled her nose at that idea and looked at Beth, which would be the lesser of two evils. She was about to decide to just go wait in the waiting room when Beth speaks up. “I have Dance Dance revolution and my mom made sugar cookies,” Beth says, trying again. Waiting for her parents was boring and took forever. She hated sitting in the seats because her mom had an audition or because her mum had to work.

“You aren’t going to drag me into your shire are you?” Bela asked wrinkling her nose as she walked towards Beth.

“What’s a shire? What’s a hobbit?” Beth asked.

“You’ve never heard of Lord of the Rings?” Bela said flabbergasted. Her mom had read to her the books and did the voices.

“I only watch movies with Barbra Streisand in it,” Beth responded haughtily.

“Who?” Bela asked.

“You’ve never heard of Barbra Streisand?” Beth asked horrified. This was a travesty of the highest order.

Santana stared at Beth and then at Rachel and then at her daughter. This had been a terrible idea. Rachel smiled at her and leaned in close. “She looks just like you Santana, and she’s like a miniature version of you.” Rachel smiled. “I wish you would have told me. You shouldn’t have been alone. I know how difficult it is raising Beth even with Quinn’s help.”

“It is what it is. I managed just fine on my own,” Santana said not wanting to talk about it. “Look its two hours and I’m not sure how I’ll feel after it. So it might—be a bit longer till I feel up to driving.”

Rachel nodding in an understanding fashion, knowing how difficult it must be for Santana to _need_ her help.  “Take all the time you need Santana. Does Isabela have any allergies? Quinn didn’t mention anything.”

“No, she’s fine just don’t let her have too much candy or bacon.”

“Fabray genes?” Rachel says nodding sympathetically.

“Damn Fabrays,” Santana mutters under her breath. “Thank you Rachel—for this. I just—I need her close by.”

Rachel smiles, “You don’t have to thank me Santana. You’re _family_.” She’s quiet for a moment, resisting the urge to hug Santana and tell her that she’d beat this thing. Santana probably would gut her and she liked her intestines very much in her body. “If I can make a suggestion Santana, perhaps if you’re not feeling up to it you should get Charlie to help out a bit. She’s been clean for nearly ten years Santana.” Rachel said gently.

This was news to her but she didn’t let it show. “ _Fuck_. No.  Quinn doesn’t even trust her with Beth and they’re family. I don’t have time for this Rachel, I seriously don’t and I don’t want Charlie as a god damn taxi service.” Santana said.

Rachel sighed, this thing with the Fabray treating Charlie like the red-headed stepchild that nobody wanted to deal with was getting tiring. Before Quinn had even let Charlie see Beth to begin with, Russell had hired a private detective for three months to make sure that Charlie wasn’t doing drugs. She hadn’t been allowed anywhere near Beth for five years. At first she had understood, she got the worry. Charlie hadn’t been in a good place. But by the time Beth had been born Charlie had been clean, her family should be supporting her recovery, but she had been turned away after showing up. All this had caused Charlie to withdraw, generally refusing to spend any time with the family, which they used as proof that she was still doing something elicit it was a vicious cycle that needed to break. Which was why she was going to ship Santana and Charlie hard, Charlie needed a family. “Quinn and I don’t agree on _everything_ Santana. While Quinn doesn’t trust Charlie with Beth, I do. She has never done anything to put Beth in any danger.”

Santana arched a brow at this and shook her head, she didn’t have time to deal with this right now. “I’m fine Hobbit, we’re taking the Amtrak, and I have someone pick me up on the other end.” Santana informed her, knowing that Rachel would probably push the issue if she could. Santana relaxes when Rachel finally nods, but that fades when Rachel throws her arms around her again. Damn hugs, and damn Fabrays.

* * *

 

“We’re going to need to turn on the main stop _cock_ ,” Noah Puckerman said and looked at Charlie, usually that elicited some type of reaction from her. Usually a roll of her eyes or something but there was nothing and she’d been like this for weeks. The guys were getting worried and he was the one that had pulled the short stick. She was a good boss, paid better than other guys in the area, so long as they did it right and on time. Sure delays happened, but they were pretty good at not wasting the clients’ money. “Seriously Charlie what’s up? You’ve been off and the guys are getting worried.”

Charlie looked at Puck for a moment, “Sorry—I’ve just got a lot on my mind—we should start getting the drywall ready.” Charlie said putting down her power drill and getting up dusting her knees off. She’s about to go see if the rest of the guys are ready to start dry walling when Puck places his hand on her shoulder.

“Talk,” Puck said, and he watched Charlie slump a bit.

Charlie eyes him, Puck out of all the people in the world hated people who couldn’t bother to take care of their kids. “I have a kid—I just found out,” she mumbles under her breath and flinches waiting for him to smack her. When she doesn’t feel pain she opens her eye and looks at him, but he’s waiting for her expectantly. “She’s ten—I didn’t know about her.”

Puck’s face twisted at this. He wasn’t liking where this conversation was going. “One night stand? Are you sure she’s yours? Like, you aren’t exactly the poster child of sleeping around. Hell I don’t even know when you last had sex. Half the guys think you’re still a virgin.”

“I’ve had sex—it’s just it’s difficult to find someone who wants to be with you when they find out you were a drug addict,” Charlie admits and runs a hand, that has paint flecks all over it, through her hair. “Santana wouldn’t lie about it. She was my ex-girlfriend and the timeline fits. She left I guess when she found out and I was too busy getting high to go after her to make her stay.” Charlie’s quiet, for a moment and looks at Puck. “Plus she’s got Fabray genes,” Charlie says with a small smile on her face.

“She looks like you?”

“God no, her mother is well—” a smile appears on Charlie’s face. “The most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She’s going to be gorgeous when she grows up. Santana will have to invest in a bat or something.” Charlie says. “I knew she was mine the moment she asked for another bacon cupcake.” Charlie rubs her hands for a moment. “I denied it though. I panicked I mean—I’m not parent material. She should have someone she looks up to, and she’s smart and quick just like Santana. Inquisitive—Santana’s done a great job. She doesn’t need me in her life mucking that up.”

“ _Bullshit_ ,” Puck said and looks at her. “All because you weren’t there for the first ten years doesn’t mean you don’t have shit to offer her. That she doesn’t need you too. She’s _your_ responsibility and you need to own up to that!”

“Santana doesn’t want me anywhere near her. She found me, travelled from Philadelphia to NYC just to find me. I don’t even quite know how she did but she did. And what am I supposed to do Puck? I’m a stranger to her? For fucks sake I’m an addict! I don’t want her to learn any of that from me.” Charlie runs a hand through her hair again and looks at him. “I don’t know what to do, I think she’s better with Santana. I mean I’m not really allowed to be with Beth for a long period of time, I’m not good with this kind of thing. Like Quinn expects updates every fifteen minutes.” Charlie rubs her head.

Puck watched the panic flicked across Charlie’s face and sighed. “Speaking as someone whose dad made a million promises and never followed through. I think it’s best if you pick one, and stick with it. Don’t be that shitty parent that promises and promises but never does. So if you’re going to stay out of her life, stay out of it. If you want to be part of her life even if some limited capacity then I suggest you get to know her.”

“I don’t know how to be a parent though,” Charlie admits after a moment. “She’s my kid—I want to see her grow up and graduate and all that stuff. But I don’t—know how to and I don’t want to step on Santana’s toes. She doesn’t even want me around, and I don’t know how to convince her to let me be in her life.”

“Who cares what Santana thinks?” Puck said patting Charlie on the back. “It’s not Santana you should worry about it’s the kid! Santana will just have to deal. So when do I get to meet my new god-daughter?”

“I do, she’s a force when she’s pissed off!” Charlie pauses for a moment and crinkles her nose. “Santana is her mother she did all the work I can’t just go in there and stomp my feet, and treat her like she’s a toy, and I’m pretty sure she has godparents.”

Puck leans in and throws his arm around Charlie’s shoulders. “Then I’ll be her honorary godfather. It’ll be our secret and we both know that I’m simply better than whoever Santana chose. I mean I’m totally awesome.” This finally causes Charlie to roll her eyes and Puck grins his job is done. Now all they needed to do is get her a cake for her then year anniversary and everything would be right with the world. “So you need to get her a present of sorts, we can all chip in.”

“I got her a gift certificate—” Charlie began.

“Dude no one reads books anymore! Get her one of those big iPhones!” Puck said smacking her on her back.

* * *

 

 **Santana:** Remember what I taught you about Hobbits. Don’t trust them! I love you.

Bela smiled at this as she read the text carefully. She didn’t really understand why her mom called her aunt Rachel a hobbit, she didn’t have hairy feet. She was short though, and it was cool that she was now related to someone famous. No one at school was going to believe her. Now she could do the family tree and Tiffany would be so jealous at school. She looked up at Beth who was staring at her phone her nose crinkled. “What?”

“That’s your phone?” Beth asked, she bit her lip her mom had reminded her that not everyone had money for all the newest gadget, but that thing had a keyboard. What phones had keyboards? Her mum told her of a time when phones didn’t have touch screens, but she was pretty sure that was just a joke.

“It’s my phone, my mom got it for me last year,” Bela said not quite understanding what was wrong with it. It was from Samsung, and it worked just fine for her. It was a phone it was supposed to call people. That’s what her mom reminded her of all the time. Besides she had her Nintendo 3ds if she wanted to play games.

Beth crinkled her nose, “You should have asked for an iPhone or at least a Samsung Galaxy,” Beth said and then tilted her head. “Or a smartphone.” Beth pulled out her new iPhone and showed it to Bela. “I can play games and text my friends and facetime them. It’s _really_ cool. Plus it’s super big so I can put my music on it. I have all the latest show tunes on it, well not with my _mom_ singing because Jennifer says that’s lame.”

Bela’s eyes widened, she wasn’t really jealous but her mom had said that it was pointlessly expensive. “Your parents bought you that? You’re so lucky!”

“No, I made Charlie feel bad about forgetting my birthday,” Beth said. “So she took me shopping and I got one, I was going to ask my grandad for one, but he was busy. My grandma is going to be me the new watch to go with it. She’s your grandma to so when you meet her she’ll probably take you shopping and get whatever you want.”

“Charlie missed ten of my birthdays—does that mean I get ten big gifts?” Bela asked wondering if that meant that Charlie was going to give her ten huge birthday gifts. “I mean she got me a gift card to the bookstore, but I ate her cupcake does that count?”

Beth stared at her cousin and wrapped her arms around her, “No. That’s not good enough. Ten birthdays? That’s like—you get a pony! Call her and ask for it. Wait make a list of the things you want then call her and ask for it. Ten presents for ten missed years.” Beth said knowledgeably. She pulled away and brought out one of her star notebooks.  “You should write them down. A new iPhone like mine so we can facetime each other all the time.”

Bela blinked and smiled at Beth and nodded, she was right Charlie did owe her ten gifts, “I don’t have her number though.”

“She’s your mum! How can you not have her number?” Beth asked crinkling her nose as Bela decided to work on her list.

“I just met her a few weeks ago, I got on a bus and found her after I found out where she lived. We come to the city so I knew which train to take and I stole my aunt’s credit card, and I gave the taxi the address. Charlie didn’t know I existed though, so she was really surprised.”

Beth stared at Isabela. That was really weird. This whole thing was weird, she now had a cousin and her aunt Charlie had a daughter. This whole thing was weird. She still didn’t understand what was going on quite yet, and she was going to ask her mom for all the information. “It’s fine, I have her number in my phone,” Beth said dismissively. “What’s on your list?” Beth asked peering over Bela’s shoulder.

“A new iPhone. A Playstation 4. I’ve always wanted a TV in my room!” Bela said eying Beth’s television that hung on the wall. “Some new video games to go with my new ps4. Skateboard, with like Spiderman on it.”

“Don’t forget an iTunes gift card!” Beth said helpfully.

“Right, what else should I get?” Bela asked tapping the pen on the table.

Beth thinks for a moment and then shrugs, “I think it’s best to keep your options open Bela. Charlie was only a day late and she bought me a brand new phone. I think if you play your cards right you can get more than just ten big gifts.” Beth smiles and pulls out her phone and dials, pressing the speaker button on her phone.

 _‘Beth? What’s wrong_?’ Charlie asked, over the sound of hammering and what sounded like a power drill.

Beth held the phone out so Bela could speak but her cousin immediately clammed up and she sighed. Well she had only met Charlie a few weeks ago, so she probably didn’t know how to handle her just yet. “What’s wrong Charlie, is that I just found out that you missed ten of Isabela’s birthdays! You owe her ten gifts, not to mention all the plays that you missed and everything else!”

‘ _But—_ ’ Charlie said looking around her worksite, suddenly feeling very guilty. She didn’t know what to get Bela for gifts. Maybe Puck had been right.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you Charlie,” Beth said with a smile as she leans back on her bed and kicks her feet. “And since I’m your favorite niece, who is helping you out, you should totally get me a new Karaoke machine.” Beth said with a smile.

 _‘I—okay but I don’t know what to get her.’_ Charlie says after a moment.

Beth’s smile only got bigger, “I’ll text you a list Charlie, and I’ll get some pictures, but you don’t have long she’s going back to Philadelphia with her mom tonight, so you should totally hurry.”

‘ _Okay—you can send me the list and I’ll think about it?’_ Charlie says scratching her head.

“I’ll see you in an hour Charlie,” Beth said with a grin ending the call. She glanced at the list and quickly typed everything into a text and sent it to Charlie.

“When my mom says she’ll think about it, the answer is usually no,” Bela pointed out frowning a bit.

Beth smiled and reached over to wrap her arm around her cousin’s shoulders, even though she was older there was so much that she could teach her cousin, and she’d get a bunch of stuff from it as well. “Just stick with me Bela. You’ll get whatever you want.”

* * *

 

“Bela wants all this stuff and you’re like—the closest person to a child I know,” Charlie said holding the phone up for Puck to see. “I don’t even know where to get all this,” she said frowning a bit and scratching her head. Or how much it was going to cost her. “I owe her ten birthday presents. This is a good place to start right?”

Puck stuck his tongue out at Charlie but took the phone and glanced at the list and grinned, “Dude your kid is _awesome_. Let’s go get her birthday presents, pretty sure we can find most of this shit at Best Buy. How long do we have?”

“An hour I guess,” Charlie said looking at her phone again.

Puck nods at this, “Alright I’ll put everything on order so all you have to do is go into the store and pay for everything and then come back out. Let’s go man, you don’t want to be late. And your kid should get to know her uncle Puck.”

Charlie’s nose crinkled at the idea of Puck and Bela meeting. Puck was a good man but she didn’t know if she was allowed to just introduce him to Bela. She had no idea what the protocol is for this situation. “Puck I think you’re going to have to go through Santana first. Just so she doesn’t kill me.” She said following him.

* * *

 

Rachel frowned ever so slightly it was a bit early for Santana to be back as she opened the door to their apartment and stared at Charlie and Puck who were standing there with a pile of boxes and bags from Best Buy. Puck was balancing two large boxes one had a television on it and the other looked suspiciously like the karaoke machine that Beth had been pestering them for. Rachel turns her attention to Charlie who has all the bags at her feet and is looking at her rubbing the back of her neck a guilty look on her face. “What did you do?” She knew for a fact that Charlie couldn’t afford this, just like she suspected that she couldn’t really afford to buy Beth the new phone several months ago.

“I missed ten of Bela’s birthdays and Puck and Beth told me that I should make it up to her so I did.” Charlie said nudging the boxes. She had maxed out both of her credit cards. She’d have to take some extra side jobs to pay it back, and she’d definitely be eating ramen for breakfast and dinner for a few months, or years. Maybe she’d have to go build her mother that damn gazebo to pay off her debts.

“Charlie?” Bela asked poking her head out from Beth’s room and grinning when she saw her other mother. She quickly left the confines and rushed to see what she had gotten. Beth had certainly not been joking when she said that Charlie would get her everything on her list. Bela grins and wraps her arms around Charlie’s waist tightly. “Thank you.”

Charlie tenses at the contact and glances at Puck who flashes her a huge grin and sticks his thumb up at her. With a bit of effort Charlie wraps an arm around Bela and pats her back. “Happy—um—belated birthday.” Charlie says. “I hope you like it.”

“Is it okay if I put your number in my phone?” Bela asks her. She wanted to be able to call Charlie whenever she wanted just like Beth. It wasn’t just about the stuff, even though that was super cool. She just wanted to be able to _talk_ to Charlie.

“Um if it’s okay with your mother,” Charlie said when Rachel gave her a look. She swallowed. “I have to get back to work Bela—”

“Charlie did you get it?” Beth asked as she finally left her room and grinned when she saw her new korokke machine.

“Aunt Charlie,” Rachel corrected immediately but when Charlie shrugged it off she sighed. “Elizabeth, what have I told you about demanding things from Charlie? It’s not nice to mess with her like that, let alone demand expensive items, after I’ve told you no!”

Charlie flushed. “It’s okay Rachel, she helped me,” Charlie said quickly not wanting Beth to get in trouble. “It’s just a gift.”

Bela frowned ever so slightly suddenly feeling guilty for asking for expensive stuff. “Can you afford to get me all of this?”

Charlie glanced at her daughter for a moment and frowned seeing the guilt on her face, “I’m fine, I just need to build a gazebo. I got all these presents for you, so you have to have fun with them.”

“Don’t forget the helmet,” Puck whispered to her reminding her. They had this parenting thing down. He was going to be an awesome godfather.

“And you have to wear your helmet when you use your new skateboard.” Charlie says nodding at him as he put the boxes down on the ground of Rachel’s apartment.

Rachel sighed she was going to have a very stern talk with Quinn and she was going to pay for all the things that Charlie bought for her daughter. And she was going to ground Beth for the foreseeable future. She smiles at Charlie, “Thank you for the gifts Charlie, I’ll bring over a plate of sugar cookies. Oh and congrats.” Rachel said and Charlie blinked. “Ten years?”

Charlie relaxed and nodded. “Ten years,” she said with a smile. “Anyway I’ve got to make sure the guys aren’t playing around with the nail gun again. Bye Bela,” Charlie said. She wasn’t sure if she should hug her again. So instead she just shakes her hand. She quickly realizes how silly she looks and flushes grabbing Puck and dragging him with her.

“Hey Rachel can I get some of those sugar cookies to?” Puck calls out to her.

“Of course Noah, I’ll bring some by the worksite tomorrow,” Rachel said shaking her head.


	5. Chapter 5

Santana felt like _shit_. Five more sessions to go, every three weeks and then surgery. She didn’t quite understand why she needed to feel like shit to get better. The nausea the dizziness was killing her, the damn pills that they had given her to take for her nausea were _not_ helping. Then there was the exhaustion, she just felt _exhausted,_ but she’d be _damned_ if she was just going to keel over and just take the big ‘fuck you’ that life was giving her. If anyone was going to beat this damn thing it was her. She had a daughter to take care of, a business to run and she _liked_ being alive. As it stood, she wasn’t exactly thrilled that she was going to need to invest in a wig, but she was just a bit vain and she didn’t want to appear weak. Brittany was going to go with her tomorrow to begin the process. Brittany had even offered to shave her head with her.

A smile tugged on her lips, she wasn’t quite sure if she could do this without Brittany’s support. Santana sighed as she finally made it to Quinn and Rachel’s apartment and placed her hand on the wall to steady herself. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath which only made the nausea worse, Santana straightened herself up and adjusted her jacket, Bela would worry if she didn’t pull it together. She was the mother in this relationship and she didn’t want Bela panicking or crying and worrying that she was going to die. She was ten, if nothing worked and she only had a few months to live then she’d tell her. Until then she was going to keep her daughter in the dark. Santana moved to the door and knocked on the door just as firmly as she had when she had dropped Bela off.  Rachel opened the door a few moments later. “I’m here to pick her up—she behaved herself didn’t she?”

Rachel winced, she didn’t think Santana was going to be impressed with all of the things that Charlie had bought for Isabela. “Well, there wasn’t any _real_ trouble but—”

“Mom! Mom! I got a new iPhone! Look at all the stuff Charlie bought me for my birthday,” Bela said holding out her new phone. Beth had set it up for her. “Can I put Charlie’s number in it? I also got a new skateboard! And a PlayStation 4!”

Santana stared at her daughter and then turned to Rachel. She was torn between feeling betrayed and enraged. They had promised that Charlie wouldn’t be in the picture and yet Charlie was trying to muscle in on _her_ daughter, trying to buy her affection, just like most of the damn Fabray’s. Santana takes a shaky breath and turns to Bela, “It is _nowhere near_ your birthday.”

Bela suddenly realized that she might be in trouble and quickly gets defensive crossing her arms over her chest. “She missed _ten_ of them! This is fine, mom. She said she could afford it, and she gave me all these presents. _You_ said it’s not polite to give gifts back. So did abuela!”

“She wants to give you a gift card, that’s fine but all this? _This_ , is why I didn’t want you getting to know these people.” Charlie’s drug addiction hadn’t happened in some vacuum, and this kind of materialistic behavior, buying affection with gifts, using money to skirt consequences was _not_ what she wanted to impart on her daughter. “Four hours with them and you’re _already_ acting like a spoiled brat. This is just stuff—”

“You didn’t care that Dani bought me presents like all the time!” Bela challenges immediately.

“ _Yes_ , candy bars and like books and—and _stuff._ Like teddy bears and dolls, not a damn PlayStation!” Santana snaps back, she was way to fucking tired to deal with this.

“I _hated_ playing with dolls and Aunt Brittany gives the best stuffed animals—she was giving it to me so she could do adult things with you,” Bela says accusingly.

Santana frowned at this it was the first time she was hearing about it and she glanced at Rachel who looked like she was going to speak up. “And you think Charlie isn’t doing the same thing?” Santana snapped back.

“Beth and I asked her for this, it’s not the same thing.” Bela responds not understanding why her mom was so angry. She liked Charlie, she was fun and she didn’t treat her like some kid, well she did but only because she had no idea what she was doing.

“ _I knew it_!” Rachel says immediately, Beth was grounded. She was going to be grounded for a long time. “Santana I assure you I had no idea that they planned to manipulate Charlie’s guilt into buying them presents, I feel that this is my fault I have told Beth over and over again that it’s not a nice thing to do especially since Charlie can’t afford it.”

“She told me she could afford it,” Bela throws in furrowing her brow, that guilt coming back. If she had known that Charlie couldn’t afford it then she wouldn’t have asked for all of the stuff that she had gotten.

Santana eyed Rachel, “What do you _mean_ she can’t afford it? Charlie _has_ money. Her trust—”

Rachel hesitates for a moment, “You were the one protecting her more than anyone else, and once you left she spiraled. Russell found out. The terms of the trust meant that Charlie became ineligible to be a beneficiary. And she refuses to comply with the terms to get herself reinstated. All the money she earns comes from her home renovation business.”

Santana blinked, she hadn’t actually thought Charlie was serious about being a contractor. It was so different than the twenty-five year old stockbroker that she had left when she found out that she was pregnant. “We’re taking it back, what you did was manipulative and I’m not standing for it. You’re going to apologize to her, for what you did. Because what you’re doing is telling her that she has to buy your affection with material items and I _did_ not raise you like that. So grab all this shit, we’re taking it to Charlie.”  

Rachel watched Santana handling her daughter effectively, ignoring the pout and the dramatics and cutting to the issue. Even though Bela didn’t look thrilled by it, she was respecting her mother’s wishes. Something that she hadn’t been able to do with Beth, maybe they could extend parenting tips. Her fathers had spoiled her giving her everything she needed to become the star that she was today and yes she had her moments but she honestly didn’t believe that she was this bad. “Let me at least drop you off, I don’t know how you’re going to get the television to Charlie but it’s cheaper than a taxi.”

“Wait—you asked her for a television? What else did you ask her for? Food to eat—we have a television at home!” Santana said shaking her head. She’s hit with a fresh wave of dizziness and casually leans against the door frame to settle herself. She swallows and flicks her eyes to Rachel, “You know what a ride would be—amazing thanks.”

Rachel nods, she was an actress she noticed the little things and she had noticed Santana lean against the door for support. She leans over and grabs the television surprised by how light it is. “Of course Santana right away. Beth, come on we’re going to take this stuff to your Aunt Charlie’s.”

* * *

 

Charlie sighed as she tugged on some pants, she was going to be late for another meeting. They were used to it by now, her schedule was all over the place and the guys at her meetings didn’t mind. She just didn’t like interrupting people. Their recovery was just as important. She glanced around for her keys when she couldn’t find them on the island where she normally tossed them. She frowned and walked around the island spotting them on the ground. She quickly bends down to pick them up, only to jerk up when there is a sharp knock on her door causing her to bang her head against the island. She grimaces and touches her head hoping that she’s not bleeding and glances at the door. She sighs, hoping it’s not Quinn to smack her again. She didn’t get many visitors. Two people in as many months was a new record. She moved to the door and opened it without checking who it was as she rubbed her head. She paused for a second, as she took in the bags of stuff and a petulant looking Isabela. Charlie winced when she looked at Santana and immediately stumbled back, “Santana.”

Santana raised an eyebrow and looked around the apartment, she expected it to be in shambles but, it looked empty, sterile even. The only thing that seemed to be out of place was the jacket on one of the bar stools, and a single dish spoon and glass in the sink. Truthfully the place seemed a bit depressing, and she flicks her eyes to Charlie whose hands are up like she’s ready to protect her face. She can’t help but roll her eyes, she had no intention of hitting Charlie. “Bela has something she would like to say to you,” Santana said looking at her daughter. Bela looked like she wanted the world to swallow her whole when Charlie turned to glance at her again.

“I’m sorry I manipulate you into buying me birthday presents. I didn’t know you couldn’t afford them—” Santana clears her throat and Bela’s nose crinkles. “Even if you could, I shouldn’t have done it, and I hope you can forgive me.”

Charlie blinks and rubs her arms not quite knowing what to say. She glances at Santana who is watching her like a hawk and she bites her lip. “Uh—it’s fine. Beth was right—I did miss ten of your birthdays.”

“Regardless, we’re here to give them back so you can return it. Her birthday was months ago and you don’t need to give her belated birthday presents.” Santana said glancing at Bela.

Bela shrunk back a bit, “Yeah,” she mumbled looking away. “Sorry.”

Charlie studied Bela for a moment and looked at Santana. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask you first—but she’s my daughter. I just—I wanted to do something nice for her.”

Santana paused, it was the first time that Charlie had openly claimed Bela as her own, and she found the whole thing irritating Charlie couldn’t just decide when Bela was her daughter. Bela needed stability, someone who knew structure. She couldn’t have Charlie flaking on her daughter. She opens her mouth to say something when she turns positively green. “Where’s your bathroom?” she manages to get out.

Charlie blinks and tilts her head. “Um, first door on the left,” Charlie said pointing to the hall. She was nearly bowled over by Santana and crinkled her nose as she watched her ex-girlfriend run to the bathroom and close the door. She heard the click of the door locking and turned to Bela who was still looking at the ground. Charlie rubbed the back of her neck and looked around hoping for a buffer, Bela seemed too old to find keys fascinating. “Um—hi?”

Bela made a small face and turned to Charlie, “Are you mad at me?” she asks. She had forgotten all about her plan to get Charlie to be the savior, because of some fancy things. “Cause I am _really_ sorry—”

Charlie shifted a bit, not quite sure what to do. Bela looked absolutely distraught and she didn’t quite like it. “Bela, this is mostly my fault—and Puck’s. I should have said no, or asked your mom if it was okay.”

“You’re the _savior_ , I’m not supposed to make you feel guilty.” Bela explains. “I’m supposed to be your side kick and help my mom find her happy ending and you’re supposed to help.”

Charlie stared at Bela suddenly feeling guilty, “Look, Bela—I’m not a savior. And your mom certainly doesn’t need my help finding a happy ending. She’s beautiful, and smart and perfect all on her own. She’ll find her own happy ending, and you need to let your mom be happy. She deserves that, so you have to give them a chance.”

Bela crinkled her nose at this. “Do you mean Dani? Ew. No. I don’t like Dani and she doesn’t like me. Mom needs to pick someone else.”

Charlie sighed, she really wasn’t good at this parenting thing.  

* * *

 

Santana closed her eyes and splashed her face a few times. She exhaled shakily and looked at the toilet and quickly flushed it a second time, like she was supposed to. Even emptying the contents of her stomach didn’t seem to do anything for her, the nausea was still around with a vengeance. She wasn’t even quite sure how she was going to make it back to a taxi. She exhales again, she just needs to keep her mind busy to get her stomach to settle down and she looks around. The bathroom is just as sterile. Santana quickly takes in her surroundings. A sponge, a towel that’s still a bit damp from a recent shower. A toothbrush and some toothpaste. A bottle of Listerine. A little shower caddy that was attached to the shower wall, where there was some shampoo and a body wash, and conditioner, all of it was relatively cheap. Honestly the whole thing was rather—normal. Too normal and Santana eyed the toilet tank. It had been where Charlie had hid all of her drugs before. She exhales and moves toward it and pulls off the top. But it’s empty. Quietly placing the porcelain top down. It had been ten years, maybe she had gotten better at hiding it. She frowns slightly, when there’s a knock on the door.  “Yeah?”

“When you’re done going through my things, we’ll be in the living room,” Charlie calls through the door before heading to the living room where Bela is sitting.

Santana blinks at this and crosses her arms. She should be embarrassed by this, but Charlie still knew her. It was a habit she couldn’t help. “Didn’t need your permission,” Santana says with a wave of her hands as she leaves the bathroom and walks across the hall to the bedroom.  But it’s just as boring as the bathroom is and everything is out in the open. Even her hamper has her clothes neatly folded in them. When had Charlie become so anal? There’s nothing to see here, and she shakes her head and walks out. “Come on Bela, we’re going to call a cab.”

Charlie looked at Santana and then all the stuff that she had bought for Bela, “Santana—can she keep the stuff? I should have talked to you before I did this—but what’s done is done and I don’t—really want to take it back.”

Santana studies Charlie for a moment and then looks at Bela and sighs, she’s too tired for this argument, and she just wants to go home and crawl into bed. She can be sick for the rest of the weekend, but right now they have to catch a cab and then the Amtrak. “Look—it’s going to be a pain to drag all this stuff back to Philadelphia and we’ve got to put it in a cab, then take it from the cab and load it onto an Amtrak—”

Charlie frowned a bit, “I can take you home.”

Bela grins at this, “If Charlie is taking us home can we stop for food! Can we get something with bacon in it?”

Santana groaned, damn those Fabray genes. She didn’t even like bacon all that much. “ _Bela_.” Santana says firmly and turns to Charlie. “Look thanks—but I can take it from here. I’m sure you’re quite busy—doing whatever it is you do for fun.”

Charlie reached for her keys and picked up her keys. “I don’t have anything really important tonight,” Charlie admits. “So I can take you home, it’s cheaper.”

Santana scowled at this, “You don’t just get to walk in here and decide these things,” Santana snaps at Charlie who shuffles and grabs the television box. “God damn Fabrays this is why I didn’t want you anywhere near them,” Santana grumbles to Bela who simply smiles and holds her hand.

“Are you upset because you can’t think of a reason to say no?” Charlie asks and looks at Bela. “Not today Bela, maybe another time?”

A smile tugged on Santana’s lips for a split second; that was the Charlie that she remembered. “I can think of plenty of reasons to say no,” She snaps back and looks at Bela who is pouting. “We’re not taking that clunker you call a car right? What happened to _your_ car?”

Charlie shrugged her shoulders, “I needed some money to start my business and I didn’t want to go to the bank for a loan. It was still worth something, so I sold it and I basically sunk all the money I still had into courses to make me a better at my job, and I took a business course just to make sure I was doing right.” Charlie answered truthfully. Her job had paid her well, but rehab had been expensive, especially after she had been cut off like she had been. She had blown through most of her savings, which was a good thing. Even now that her business was successful, she didn’t like having access to too much cash. She didn’t trust herself and buying up assets was the best way to keep her personal budget tight make sure she didn’t have too much cash that she could get into trouble.

Santana raised a brow, the first time the two of them had sex was on the hood of that car, and she studies Charlie for a moment, the contractor not bothering to look at her. “I never liked that car anyway.”

Charlie stops for a moment and turns to look at her, meeting Santana’s defiant eyes, daring her to say something. Charlie glances at Bela for a moment, she didn’t want to call her a mother a liar in front of her. “Probably for the best I got rid of it then,” she mumbles. She’s about to say something else when her phone buzzes from where it’s hooked to her belt. Charlie immediately pulls it off, answering it without looking at the name. “Hello?”

‘ _Charlie I wanted to make sure that you’re okay. You’re never this late for our meetings. I know you’ve been busy at work lately, which is good. But I was thinking of taking you out to dinner, so we can talk. You know about the family situation, what your options are. I mean a daughter? That’s like earth shattering news, and I know that you like to be in control_.’

“I’m fine Mike, I’m not coming. I’m taking my daughter home.”

 _‘Again_?’

“If you have somewhere to be—” Santana begins, studying Charlie carefully.

“I’m taking you home Santana, stop looking for an excuse.” Charlie said with a sigh.

‘ _Santana_ — _your ex. Oh. Look I get it and if you need to talk when you get back to the city or need a place to get your head on straight. You know my door is always open.’_  Mike said.

“Thanks Mike, I’ll talk to you later,” Charlie said ending the call. She definitely would be taking him up on that, but now she had t get Santana and Bela home.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Santana groaned as she felt someone poking her repeatedly in the side, and her eyes fluttered open and she blinked a few times trying to remember where she was. It took a moment to realize that she was currently resting her head against Charlie’s shoulder and there was a giant wet patch on Charlie’s shoulder soaking through her shirt. She flushed and immediately sat straight and glanced over at Bela who had an irritating knowing look on her face. Her daughter was smug, but she was exhausted and felt ill, there wasn’t any more than that. She frowned when she noticed the soda in her hand and a bag from subway. Santana turned to Charlie and frowned. “Really?”

“She did this face—and I just—it’s healthy?” Charlie said biting her lip. Santana had passed out on her arm and she hadn’t wanted to wake her to ask.

Santana glanced over at Isabela who flashed her a smile, “I got you a meatball marinara with extra cheese and parmesan sprinkles.” Bela said holding up the bag. “And we got you a chocolate chip cookie.”

“Two,” Charlie mumbles.

“Well we got you two, but I ate one.” Bela admits after a moment and smiles brightly when Charlie turns to her. “What? I was hungry!” Bela said and quickly realizes that it’s time to depart as she opens the door of the car and hops down onto the driveway and races to the front steps.

Santana watched her daughter, the smell of the food, let alone ingesting it made her want to barf and she was glad for the fresh air, she glances at Charlie who is still sitting down her hands on the wheel. “Thanks for the ride.” Santana says after a moment.

Charlie nods and eyes Santana for a moment, she didn’t look good but she didn’t know how to ask. Maybe it was just a bug. “Let me help you bring Bela’s stuff inside, and I’ll leave,” Charlie said after a moment. “You did a really good job with her and I don’t want to wreck that. Next time—I promise I’ll ask first.”

Santana studies her for a moment, “She’s the most important person to me in this world. Truthfully Charlie—I don’t want her around you.”

Charlie’s heart sinks a bit she’s heard this before and she nods, “I get it Santana.” Charlie says after a moment and forces a smile onto her face.

“No, you don’t get it. I was there and I was sober, you probably don’t remember all the broken promises, the acting like a complete and utter asshole, breaking my heart time and time again. Hurting me and then apologizing. You _don’t get it_. I was an adult and it took me a long time to realize that it wasn’t _me_. That I couldn’t save you and I am _not_ putting her through that. She’s a kid, she’s not going to understand that. She’s going to blame herself and internalize that. I can’t deal with that, so I need you to stay as far away as possible. You can send her cards on her birthday and at Christmas and maybe come to some special occasions. But other than that—I didn’t even want her to know about you until she was eighteen.”

Charlie is quiet for a moment and she grips the wheel tighter but she nods, she did remember. She closes her eyes for a moment, and flicks her eyes to Bela for a moment. “I’m sorry for hurting you.”

“It’s ancient history Charlie,” Santana says. “But it’s history that I don’t want repeating. Look I’ll have a talk with her and don’t worry—I’ve never badmouthed you in front of her and I don’t plan to do that now.” She sighs and looks at where they are, “Thank you for the ride, and the presents Charlie.”

Charlie nods at her, “You can tell her that I’m a bad person, I told her that. I told her that I hurt you.” Charlie admits after a moment as she gets out of the car and holds her hand out to help Santana get down. “It might make it easier.”

“None of this is easy Charlie,” Santana says as she finally steps down from the truck. “Thank you,” she says after a moment and heads to open the front door for Bela who is hopping around like she needs to go to the bathroom. They were going to have a talk soon about Charlie and she needed to stop putting it off. She watches as Charlie grabs a few bags and makes her way to the door and puts them just inside the door, not taking a step inside before returning to her truck to grab some heavier things.  She leans against the door frame when another wave of dizziness hits her, she just needs to get some rest and go to bed. Charlie takes a few steps up the porch when there is a flash or red and blue lights and the sound of a police car pulling up. She always hated when Dani did that, but the last thing she needed was Dani seeing Charlie around with all these gifts.

Dani frowned as she approached the front steps, glancing at Charlie who was carrying at television, she clenches her hands ever so slightly but doesn’t quite say anything about that. “Hey where were you all day? I called your office to see if we could grab some lunch or dinner and Brittany said that you were busy. It’s not too late, maybe you and I could—”

“No Dani, we broke up,” Santana said firmly. She shifts a bit so that Charlie can put the box inside the house. A small part of her wonders where Dani expected her to put Bela. It was late and a Friday night, she was far too young to be left alone by herself and it was last minute.

Dani frowned and looked over at Charlie who walked by her to grab some more stuff from her truck, she turned back to Santana. “Really you’d rather spend time with _her_ than me? Santana you’re putting your daughter at risk.”

Santana’s eyes narrowed immediately and she glared at Dani, “How _dare you_ ,” she hisses and she sees Charlie flinch away. At least someone had the sense to duck and cover, but Dani had a stubborn look on her face. “I would never do _anything_ to put Bela at risk.”

“Yes because allowing this crack addict near her is the right move.” Dani scoffs. “Look I care about Bela and I worry about her. You told me that you and Bela were a package deal. I’m simply concerned about the influence you’re letting into her life.”

“Except none of this is your concern anymore Dani because once again we _broke up_. You’re not her mother and thus you really have no say in how I choose to raise my daughter, now lower your god damn voice, before—”

“Mom?” Bela asks from behind her, causing Santana to turn to look at her. Isabela’s hands were still wet from washing her hands. “We ran out of paper—what’s she doing here?” Bela asked making a face at Dani. When her mother doesn’t answer her she smirks at Dani. “Look at all the stuff Charlie bought for me.”

The look on Dani’s face soured as she glanced at Charlie, her lips curling up in disgust for a split second, before she smiled at Bela. “That’s nice why don’t you go play with your dolls while the grownups talk?”

“I don’t _have_ dolls. Come on Charlie I want to beat you at Mario Kart.” Bela said about to go outside to drag Charlie inside so she could beat her at the game in question. She was stopped by her mother placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Go eat your dinner Bela.” Santana said in a tone that meant that there wasn’t any room for argument. She watched as her daughter huffed and stormed back to the dining area. Santana waited for a moment and looked at Charlie who was at her truck door, she hadn’t defended herself or gotten angry at Dani’s accusations. She wasn’t the current pain in her ass. “Goodnight Charlie. Thank you for the ride home. I’ll talk to Bela for you.”

Charlie nods and is about to say something but rethinks it and moves on, “Goodnight Santana,” she says and opens the door to her car and pulls out of the driveway and drives off.

Santana turns her attention back to Dani for a moment, this was not how she wanted to spend her time. “I’m going to say this slowly because I’m exhausted and I don’t want to deal with this anymore. We broke up, you do not have any right on dictating how I’m going to live my life or raise my daughter. You are not _some_ moral authority Dani, especially not on my life. Now get the hell off my property, I need to talk to my daughter.”

Dani frowned at this and stopped Santana from slamming the door in her face, catching the door. “Maybe I just can’t turn off my feelings like you did. I loved you Santana, we had a good year and I don’t even know what I did to cause you to break up with me. You didn’t give me any explanation, you just told me we were done. You and Bela mean the world to me Santana, and I’m worried about her.”

Santana sighed and looked around, “Look Dani, surprisingly this has nothing to you. I don’t really owe you anything, we broke up and we’re not in high school. So, I’m going to go inside and talk to my daughter who doesn’t play with dolls, and really does hate when you dismiss her like that. So goodnight.” With that Santana pushed the door closed and sighed rubbing her face. There were a multitude of reasons that she had broken up with Dani, getting the news that she had cancer was simply the icing on the cake and the excuse she needed to pull that particular trigger. But Dani was petty enough to blame Charlie who hadn’t even factored into her decision and she opened the door to her house again to find her ex still standing there expectantly. “Dani. I know you’re pissed, but going after Charlie is a massive mistake on your part. She hasn’t done anything and even though she broke my heart she also gave me the greatest gift, Isabela. I don’t hate her and no matter what she is still Bela’s other mother. I’m not telling you to stay away from her because I have some repressed feelings for her. I’m telling you stay the hell away from her because even if she’s had a falling out with her parents and her family her last name is still Fabray. You don’t fuck with a Fabray.”

“No you just fuck them instead,” Dani says angrily and storms off heading back to her police car slamming the car door.

Santana watches as Dani peels away and shrugs, she did warn her. It was now up to Dani to actually listen.

* * *

 

Bela was eating her sandwich and flipping through the channels when her mother finally flopped on the couch beside her. “Did you get rid of her?”

Santana flicked her eyes to her daughter for a moment who chewed on her sandwich messily and sighed, “Don’t be a brat, Isabela. But yes Dani left,” Santana said crinkling her nose at the smell of the food that Bela was eating. Her stomach flipped and she groaned. “As did Charlie.”

Bela turned to her mother and frowned ever so slightly at this, “Why did you make her leave? I _like_ Charlie, mom.”

“Charlie doesn’t actually live here,” Santana reminds her daughter and sighs. She needs to get Bela to stop with her adoration of Charlie. “Speaking of Charlie. I think that it’s time we talked about her.”

Bela grins at this, she had seen how her mom had fallen asleep against Charlie who had done everything to make sure she hadn’t woken her up from her nap. “Good, I think that for your first date you should go somewhere fancy—no wait I don’t think Charlie has any clothes that aren’t covered in paint.  How about you go for a picnic? That’s romantic right? And Charlie doesn’t have get all dressed up.”  

Santana turned to her daughter, “Bela—Charlie and I are _not_ dating. It’s been ten years and we’re different people and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. We discussed it and we both agreed that maybe it was best if you didn’t spend so much time around Charlie, and she didn’t spend so much time around you.”

Bela blinked confused for a second and glanced at her new phone for a moment, “Is she mad at me? Because we can take the stuff back! Charlie’s fun—and she’s supposed to be the savior to give you your happy ending.”

Santana winced this was the feeling she had been trying to avoid in her daughter. “Of course this isn’t your fault. It’s not about the gifts or anything. We talked and it’s about what’s best for you. We both agreed that Charlie not being a big part of the picture is what’s best for you.” Santana tried hoping that it was enough to calm Bela down.

Bela’s frown got deeper, not liking the sound of that. “I _like_ Charlie, she’s supposed to make you happy. She’s really nice and she doesn’t treat me like I’m just a baby—she talks to me like I’m a person. Why would keeping her away be what’s best for me? Charlie is supposed to be _our_ happy ending.”

Santana sighed at this, she had always admired her daughter’s conviction when she thought she was right. There were just some days that she wished that Bela wasn’t so stubborn and just did what she asked. “I know you’re not a child anymore Bela, which is why we’re talking about this. I know you like Charlie, and you think she’s cool and amazing, but there are things that you simply don’t understand. Charlie said that she told you she wasn’t a good person right?”

“The savior _has_ to say things like that mom. It’s because they don’t believe in themselves and it’s what makes a good story. She _is_ a good person and I know she hurt you but you but abuela said that you had to forgive people that hurt you and give them another chance. She drove me back all the way from New York and bought me dinner. She bought me all these things and let me keep it even though she knew I manipulated her.  She’s a good person mom.”

“You’re right Charlie is a good person, it’s why I fell in love with her to begin with. But people aren’t just good and bad Bela. Sometimes bad people do good things, and sometimes good people do bad things. Charlie falls into that camp. Charlie is a good person who has done a lot of bad things—”

“She hurt you,” Bela says sullenly.

Santana exhales, “She did, but she also made me happy at times. She has done a lot of bad things, and sometimes I know she doesn’t mean to. I can’t risk her doing those bad things to you, or hurting you even by accident. She’d never forgive herself and I could never forgive her. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you and she doesn’t want anything bad to happen to you. Do you understand?”

“But that’s not fair, she hasn’t done anything to me and I _want to see her_. I want to get to know her—” Bela begins raising her voice.

“Bela,” Santana says evenly. “I know it’s difficult, but this is what’s best for you. I know you’re angry but you know better than to raise your voice at me. Charlie isn’t some savior. She isn’t and I need you to understand that, because it’s an impossible standard to live up to.” Bela stared at her mother for a moment before getting up and storming away. She heard the heavy steps on the stairs and the slam of Bela’s door and she sighed. Maybe she should have Charlie give her the talk, because right now Bela saw _her_ as the enemy. She sighed and groaned as she grabbed the meal that Bela had left on the coffee table and put it in the fridge. Hoping that dealt with the smell before she slowly made her way to her bedroom stopping only to knock on Bela’s door. “Bela?”

“ _Go away!_ ” Bela yelled through her door and played with her new phone. It wasn’t fair, she liked Charlie far better than she liked Dani and her mom had made her spend time with Dani and be polite. Even though she thought Dani wasn’t a good person. She bit her lip, and picked up her new phone wondering if Beth would give her Charlie’s number anyway. She hears a sigh and then picks up her phone and decides to FaceTime her cousin.

Santana sighed and headed to her bedroom, she was exhausted and nauseated and she was asleep the moment her head hit her pillow. Not even bothering to strip down and put on some pajamas.

* * *

 

Mike Chang opened the door to his brownstone and looked at Charlie who was currently standing on his porch and he immediately ushered her in. “You okay?” He asked her immediately, concern evident in his voice as he pulled her into his living room. Out of all the people that he had sponsored Charlie was the only one that had lasted as long as this. He was proud of her, it was an accomplishment and she had gotten her life back on track even if she had decided on a new career.

Charlie was quiet for a moment her thoughts racing. “Maybe—I made a mistake. Leaving Motta Equity Management, maybe that was a mistake. Because I don’t know why I’m doing this anymore Mike. Everyone thinks I’m some sort of screw up. I can’t—maybe if I was some respectable member of society—I just—remind me why I’m doing this.”

Her tone was distressed and if Mike didn’t know any better, Mike would assume that she had been crying. “You made the decision because the culture there was basically inviting you to do drugs again. You wanted to be clean and your business is doing well, I mean it’s nearly spring you’re going to be packed until fall. You know that winter is always a slow few months for you.”

“Being busy isn’t the problem, it’s the fact that I’ve been working so hard at this for ten years, I’ve apologized and yet—I’m always going to be _that_ person, so why not just give everyone what they want?” There’s a bitter note in her voice, she’s tired. So tired of everyone punishing her. She hadn’t even done anything to Quinn. It was becoming obvious that no one gave a shit what she did. It didn’t matter if she spent the rest of her life clean, that’s all they saw.

“Because you’ve worked so hard at this that throwing it away because you’re upset about something and are throwing a tantrum about is childish,” Mike said gently but firmly.

“I’m tired of trying to prove myself Mike. It’s nearly been ten years, when will it be enough? Quinn acts like I’m about to relapse any second. Frannie—well we don’t talk but we never have. My father calls me just to remind me that I shouldn’t be an embarrassment and then asks me to be that person again, to help him invest his money. My mother—well she treats me like I’m an invalid. Santana—well she at least has a reason.” Charlie says running a hand through her hair.

Mike sighed, “This is about your daughter?”

“Santana doesn’t want me anywhere near her and I didn’t know what to do but nod my head. She’s my daughter and she’s smart and brilliant and I want to be a part of it. Well more than cards on her birthday and Christmas. I just—I’ve missed ten years. I thought that this wasn’t possible for me. Having a kid, a family—people don’t want to be with you when you tell them that you used to be a drug addict. So I made peace with the fact that I was going to be alone for the rest of my life. Then she comes and it’s like—I have a daughter and I can’t do anything with her. I mean I know I’m not the best role model for her but, maybe we could have lunch together once a week or something. Just so she knows that I care. Is that too much to ask for? But I don’t blame her, Santana, I don’t blame her. I hurt her more than anyone else and I don’t even know if I deserve a chance.” Charlie exhales. “So now my daughter is going to grow up thinking that I don’t want anything to do with her. So what’s the point Mike? At least if I’m a mess, then I have an excuse. She’ll at least be able to blame the drugs.”

“If you want to spend time with your daughter, then go after Santana for custody. You do have every right to be there,” Mike points out gently.

“What judge in their right mind wouldn’t take her side? I was an abusive asshole when I was with Santana and she’s just trying to keep her daughter safe. I don’t want to fight her for custody, because that’s only going to hurt Santana more Mike.”

Mike rubbed the back of his head, “Look, Charlie I know it’s difficult for you to hear, but your family—well they are kind of assholes. We’ve talked about this before. Yes they never put drugs in your hands, but they didn’t come and support you when you were struggling to do the right thing either. You shouldn’t look to them for validation because we both know they’re never going to give it to you. Santana on the other hand has just seen you for like twenty minutes, she didn’t see you going through recovery. And you yourself said you had periods when you _didn’t_ use. So unlike your family, who refuses to see how far you’ve come, she simply _hasn’t_ seen how far you’ve come. So you’re still that drug addict in her mind. You need to give that relationship time and the visitation will come. You can’t blame her for being overly cautious.” Mike points out.

Charlie sighs, he was right. Mike was always right that’s why she simply didn’t fight him on any of the issues. Not like that anyway. Charlie lets out a shaky breath, “Bela thinks I’m some sort of savior—I just I’d like to be that for her, some sort of knight in shining armor that she can depend on. I know I’m not—but still. Is that too much to ask?”

Mike pats her on the back, “Of course it isn’t and you will be, you know you can’t rush these things. One day at a time remember? No one is stopping you from being that person for your daughter, you just need to take it one step at a time.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

“Brittany, I know you love me. I know you want to support me. But you are _not_ shaving your head as well,” Santana said, shaking her head. She felt like absolute shit. She was exhausted all the time, the nausea didn’t really go away. It was like being pregnant all over again, and then her mouth had broken out into sores. Then there was the hair. Her beautiful hair was coming out in clumps, so today she was going to bite the bullet and get her head shaved, and start using the wig that she and Brittany had picked out. At least she had managed to move her appointments to Saturdays, though she wasn’t thrilled with the idea that the spot that she was taking was of someone who had recently passed away.

“I don’t see why I can’t do it too,” Brittany said with a huff. “I’d look super sexy as a bald lady. _And_ , I wouldn’t have to wear a swim cap to decrease my lap drag,” Brittany said. “Plus summer is coming and I’d like to feel the breeze on my head.” Brittany said in a cheerful tone thinking of all the wonderful things that she could do with a bald head.

Santana’s lips twitched upward for a moment as she glanced at Brittany. They hadn’t worked as a couple, which hadn’t taken long to figure out. Brittany was too much of a free spirit, but they were perfect friends. Best friends even, “Do you swim often Brittany?” Santana asks after a moment.

“Well, _no_. But I can start Santana. It’s just hair it’ll grow back eventually and no one at work really cares. I can just say I know someone with cancer and people will just accept it.” Brittany points out.

“Except, I don’t want anyone finding out, and if you say that to Bela, she’ll know that I have cancer.” Santana pointed out. “She thinks the only people you know are your cats and me.” Santana explains.

Brittany crinkled her nose at this statement, “I’m not a cat lady you know.” She points out after a moment.

“I know you aren’t and I told Bela not to call you one,” Santana said grinning. The smile fades for a moment, she loved her hair. It may be vain but the idea of having someone shave her head did not appeal to her at all. She sighs a bit and looks out the window, “I just—I don’t want anyone to know. I can’t appear weak, and I don’t want Bela to freak out.”

Brittany was quiet for a moment, “You need to tell her Santana. _You_ raised her Santana, which means she’s tough as nails. I don’t think she’s going to break apart and I think she _should_ know. I can be there when you tell her.”

Santana sighs and closes her eyes for a moment, “I thought about it. I mean I definitely thought about it, but she’s still trying to either insert Charlie into our lives or insert herself into Charlie’s life. I’m worried if I tell her—well she’ll want to go live with her. She doesn’t even _know_ Charlie, and Charlie doesn’t know her. She doesn’t know how she likes her sandwiches or what her favorite color is. Then there’s the drug thing. I just—I don’t trust her. But a part of me knows that if this doesn’t work—if the chemo fails then—”

“I’ll take care of her.” Brittany promises. “I’ll make sure she does her homework, and brushes her teeth. I’ll make sure she has a home Santana.”

Santana sighed, letting her breath fog the glass up for a moment. “If anything happens to me, custody goes to Charlie. Unless she’s unfit, or can’t prove paternity and with Quinn around if the Fabray family wants to make it an issue, I’m sure they’ll find some way to insist that Bela is Quinn’s. Or simply say that she’s unfit because of her drug use. Which is why I have to beat this thing, I don’t want her raised with them.”

Brittany crinkled her nose, wondering if Santana was exaggerating, but from the look on her face she wasn’t. “It’s been ten years, maybe she’s changed?” Brittany suggested and quiets down when Santana gives her a look. “I’m just saying—that maybe she isn’t the person you knew? But you know say the word and I will totally kidnap Bela and move to Mexico. She should get to know her Mexican heritage.”  

Santana snorted at this, and rolled her eyes. “I’m not Mexican.” It was something to think about later, but right now she just needed to get her head on straight. She looks at her reflection in the window and shakes her head as she runs a hand through her hair. She frowns when she notices long strands in her hand. She _hated_ this, but she needed to get better. “Hey Britt?”

Brittany flicked blue eyes to Santana for a moment, “Yeah?”

“Thanks,” Santana said quietly. “I might take you up on that.”

* * *

 

 _‘Charlie, you’re like my sister. I’m telling you right now that this is a very bad idea_.’ Puck said as he lifted up some timber, it was rare that Charlie left him in charge of things. She was so anal about doing a good job that she never took a day off. Even when she was leaking mucus and her eyes were swollen from allergies. It was admirable and stupid, just like this idea.

Charlie rolled her eyes and adjusted her jacket as she found a park bench to sit on, “I’m not doing anything wrong Puck—I’m just watching my daughter play in the park with my niece.” She was far away and had to squint to see Rachel, who seemed to be talking to other parents and nannies in the area, which meant that she probably wouldn’t be noticed.

_‘Right, cause you sitting far away watching children play isn’t going to raise some alarm bells. People take this shit very seriously. You’re going to get labelled the neighborhood pervert, and they’re going to run you out of town with pitchforks and torches. Or you’ll get arrested again.’_

Charlie tilts her head till she sees Beth and Bela playing on the swing-set. “Puck, I’m not going to ask any kid to get into my truck or help me find a puppy.” Charlie mutters, she just wanted to spend a bit of time with her daughter. Even if she wasn’t allowed to spend some time with her daughter. She knew this was creepy. But, she just—wanted to see her kid. She didn’t plan on talking to her, Santana had made it very clear that she didn’t want that. But pretending, denying Bela’s existence was almost impossible. She was in the city and she wanted to see her.

 _‘I know, I’m just saying. I’ve slept with most of the MILFs, and they are like super protective of their kids. You don’t want to mess with them. Just saying.’_ Puck reminded her.

Charlie sighs and nods, even though Puck can’t see her before she blinks and frowns slightly. “Wait—were you sleeping with our _clients_?” She made sure that she had criminal background checks on all her men when it came to dealing with some of her richer clients, and she made sure they were all documented.

‘ _Oh look at that, Sam needs help carrying the new granite countertops inside. I’ll talk to you later, try not to get arrested it’s bad for business.’_  Puck laughed and quickly hung up not wanting to deal with Charlie lecturing him about professionalism again.

Charlie shook her head and ended the call and turned her attention to Bela who was laughing at something Beth said. She wished she could move closer so she could hear the words, but it was better not to risk it. At least she could spend her lunch break watching her daughter from afar. She rubbed her hands a bit and leaned back, the guys did want to see pictures of Bela and she wondered if it was okay to photograph her just so she’d have something. She reached for her phone not noticing that she was being watched by a mother who was cataloguing her every move suspiciously.

“Okay, don’t look now ladies, but it seems that we’ve got another _pervert_ , in our midst,” Kitty said keeping her voice down. “I think we should just alert the police.”

Rachel sighed. It seemed like every day there was a new pedophile in the area with Kitty, she was sure the police were getting tired of coming for the false alarms. It was a public park everyone was allowed to use it. But she slaps on a smile, “Where?” Rachel asked and follows the direction of Kitty’s discrete pointing. Rachel stares and then squints, she recognizes those paint splattered jeans and heavy work boots. Rachel turned to the rest of the mothers. “I’ll handle it.”

“Rachel, it could be dangerous,” Kitty said immediately. “We should just let the police handle it. It’s a children’s park, you should have a child. It’s what they’re doing at all sorts of places now. Lego, Chuck-E-Cheese.” Kitty explained.

Rachel pulled away from the group of mothers and nannies. “I’m sure we can handle this in a civilized manner. I’ll be right back can you watch the girls for a moment?” Rachel asks. She doesn’t turn back as she makes her way to Charlie. What was she thinking? She approaches Charlie who hasn’t noticed and shakes her head. “You’re lucky that they didn’t call the cops on you.”

Charlie blinks and nearly drops her phone as she looks up at Rachel, her face going a bit red. “I just—hi Rachel.” She mumbles this part and gets up to go, maybe she should have listened to Puck. This was a bad idea. “I’m sorry.”

“This is weird even for you Charlie, and honestly it’s the last thing that Santana needs today,” Rachel informed Charlie a frown on her face. But there’s no recognition in Charlie’s face and she quickly realizes that Santana hadn’t told Charlie and from the looks of it Quinn had failed to mention it to her sister. She grimaces ever so slightly. Keeping Charlie in the dark wasn’t fair, but it wasn’t her place. She sighs, “Look Charlie I know this is hard for you, and I know that you want to see her, but right now you look like a pedophile. You can’t just take pictures of kids.” Rachel said grabbing onto Charlie’s arm.

“I know—Puck told me. But I don’t—I don’t even have a photo of her. All the other guys have pictures of their kids, and they talk about them and I just—I wanted one to.” Charlie admits. Even if it was fuzzy and out of focus. “Look, I’ll leave, and I’ll keep to what Santana wants.” Charlie said tugging on her arm.  

Rachel sighs and pulls Charlie back down, so she can talk to her. She’d most definitely have a chat with Santana about this. At the very least try and convince her to let Charlie have supervised visits. She was glad that Charlie wanted to have something to do with Bela at all. “Well, they have these parenting classes down at the community center. I’ll forward you the information, once I get home. Maybe if you take some classes, Santana will be more willing to let you have supervised visits.”

“I’m clean,” Charlie says quietly. She had been with Bela unsupervised before, and Beth. Surely that had to count for something. But the classes seemed like a good idea.

“I know you are,” Rachel said with a hum. “I wouldn’t trust you with Beth if you weren’t.” She pats Charlie’s arm gently. “Listen to me, parenting is tough and you’re a bit late to the party. Santana has a lot going on in her life right now and worrying about you and Bela shouldn’t be on that list. So you need to be a bit more proactive in this, if you want to win Santana’s approval. I’m sure you have Bela’s seal of approval, but it’s Santana you need to win over.”

Charlie nods quietly and exhales, she could do that. She’d talk to Mike as well, maybe he knew something about that. She bit her lip, “What about drug tests? I can do the drug tests so I can show Santana I’m clean,” Charlie offered.

Rachel blinked. For ten years, Charlie had refused to take a drug test. Quinn had been trying to force the issue forever, and truthfully she had never quite understood why Charlie had simply refused. “Of course that will help! Do you want me to book an appointment? Why now?”

“I want to show Santana, this isn’t about money and trying to get my hands on my trust again. I also—I didn’t want to pee in front of someone else.” Charlie muttered the last part.

That was the test that Russell required for Charlie to start getting money from her trust and she assumed that Quinn would need too. “Well since this isn’t for the trust Charlie, I’ll help you find one where you don’t have to pee in front of someone. Also why don’t you give some hair samples? So you have sort of a timeline? If Santana has some scientific proof that you’re clean and you’ve been clean for a while then she might soften a bit. I’m sure it’ll still be supervised, but it’s a start right?”

Charlie nods, at this. She’s right, she needs to start somewhere, just like she had with Beth. Even though she suspected that Beth just sort of used her as a piggy bank when Rachel and Quinn said no, it was nice to be wanted. “I can do that—thanks Rachel.”

Rachel smiles at this pleased at this turn of events, “Maybe I can get Santana to send you some photos, when she picks up Bela tonight. I’ll also send you the information. I want you to spend time with your daughter, I think Bela will be good for you. You need to open up a bit more, I know it’s difficult but I think it’s important that you do.”

* * *

 

She _loathed_ the wig that she was currently sporting even if it was as close to her previous hair as possible. It was itchy and her head was hotter than it should be and she knew her now bald head was sweating up a storm. She had already adjusted it a few times, despite Brittany swearing to her that it was fine. She wasn’t sure if Brittany was being nice but to her it looked crooked. She sighed as she knocked on the door, hoping that Bela didn’t have a truckload of stuff this time, and that she didn’t notice anything amiss. She had told Bela that she was going to try a new look for a bit.

It only took a moment for Rachel to swing the door open a wide smile on her face as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Santana tightly, “How are you feeling?” Rachel asked as Santana scrambled to get free.

“I’d feel better if you weren’t hugging me! What the hell is with hobbits and hugging?” Santana hisses as Rachel finally lets her go. She should introduce Rachel to Brittany they could hug all the time and eave her out of it. She pauses for a moment, “Did Charlie show up with more gifts?” Santana asks suspiciously. Once again feeling the effects of her recent chemo treatment. She wasn’t going to pass out in front of Rachel and it had taken her longer to get herself up the elevator this time.

“No, she didn’t show up with more gifts,” Rachel said slowly and watched as Santana’s eyes narrowed even further. “Don’t worry Isabela didn’t see her today, she wanted a picture of her. To at least have and I informed her before she went on her way that I would ask you of course.” Rachel said briskly. “Otherwise, I’m sure she’s just going to try again and this time I might notice her before someone accuses of her being the creepy person in the park.”

Santana snorted at Rachel’s blunt statement and sighed. A part of her wanted to keep the wall up, to force Charlie to stay away, but it was a photo. Even if she had been hurt by Charlie in the past, she was staying as far away from Bela as possible. Which included not answering her phone when Bela attempted to reach her. The situation wasn’t fair and Charlie hadn’t done anything spiteful, hadn’t demanded visitation, hadn’t gotten lawyers involved and more importantly hadn’t gone to her parents or worse, Frannie. Santana shivers at the thought for a moment. “I’ll send her some pictures of Isabela—do you have her number?”

Rachel smiled, “Of course I do,” Rachel said pulling out her phone and texting Santana the number, and she had hoped that Santana would be agreeable. She exhales after a moment unsure of whether to continue pushing or to let Santana and Charlie figure it out for themselves. “Santana may I make a suggestion?”

“No.” Santana said, even though she knew Rachel well enough to know that wouldn’t stop her from giving her two-cents.

Rachel smiled and continued anyway, “I know you’ve got a lot on your mind, with everything that’s going on. However once things settle down a bit, perhaps you could consider supervised visits. I know you of all people don’t have a reason to trust Charlie—but it’s been ten years Santana. She’s changed—you’ve changed.”

Santana sighed, “We’ve talked about this. Quinn doesn’t trust Charlie—”

“Yes, I’m aware of that, but you’re not Quinn. I know, I’m not a lawyer Santana but she’s not going to go get any. She’s okay with supervised visits until you trust her, to let her have unsupervised visits. If you never do, then you don’t but she’s not going to fight you on this even though you know very well that she has every right to be in her life,” Rachel argued immediately.

“This isn’t some social experiment Rachel. She’s my daughter and I will protect her,” Santana snapped, her eyes flick upward and she spots her daughter and Beth standing there wordlessly.

Rachel rolled her eyes. “From what? The borderline agoraphobic?” Rachel snips back not letting Santana push her around. “I’m not saying that you should just dump Isabela onto Charlie, I’m saying supervised visits. If you want to supervise them then supervise them.”

Santana frowned ever so slightly, “We’ve had this discussion Rachel, and I’ve had it with my daughter. I don’t want Charlie anywhere near her.”

Rachel shook her head, “Half of her DNA is Fabray, whether you care to admit it or not. You owe it to Bela to figure something out. It’s only a self-fulfilling prophecy if you let this continue. You don’t want Charlie to hurt Bela, but this _is_ hurting her.”

Santana placed her hand on the door to steady herself and frowned, not quite liking the fact that she was weak in front of the god damn hobbit. If it were any other day she’d eviscerate her but Brittany was waiting, “Come on Bela, Britt’s waiting in the car.” Santana said firmly, and turned her attention back to Rachel. “Listen Hobbit, I’m not going to kick your ass in front of your daughter. But you need to mind your own god damn business.”

Rachel eyed Santana, she could barely stand and she sighed. Picking on a woman who had just gone through chemo was not something she should be proud of. “I am, but what’s the long term goal here? At least think about it and consider it. If you have demands of Charlie then talk to her about it.” Rachel said glancing at Bela who moved to stand beside her mom. She smiled at her, “What about the cupcakes that we made together?”

Bela smiled but glanced at her mother, not quite knowing what to do with the tension between her aunt Rachel and her mother. “Go ahead,” Santana said with a sigh and Bela immediately moved to go grab the cupcakes she had made for her mother and Brittany. Santana turned her attention back to Rachel for a moment, “Thank you for watching Bela,” she said tersely.

Bela came back nibbling on an extra cupcake and glanced at her mother, “I like your hair mom. Did Aunt Brittany pick it out?”

Santana smiled at her daughter and nodded, “Yeah—something like that,” she admits.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Santana groaned as she woke up, her stomach turning violently as she scent of bacon and eggs and quite possibly hash browns wafted into her bedroom. She immediately stumbled out of bed and rushed to her ensuite bathroom, the distance tiring her out immediately as she kicked the lid up and emptied the pathetic contents of her stomach into the bowl. It was followed by dry heaving, before she was finally okay. She immediately flushed the toilet, ignoring the weird sound that it had been making lately before doing it a second time. She’d get a plumber in here another time. She glances at herself in the mirror and looks at the smooth top of her head and swallows back some of the raw emotion. Hair would grow back, she just needs to fight this. She needs to get better. Splashing some cold water on her face she moves over and flushes the toilet again and begins to brush her teeth. With a sigh she grabs the wig from where she had kept it and slips it on, adjusting it almost obsessively even though there really was no need to.

She slowly wraps herself in her robe and makes her way downstairs, where she can hear Brittany and Bela laughing in the kitchen and even though she’s _really_ not hungry and just wants to crawl into bed, she does want to talk to Bela about what happened yesterday with Rachel. She needed to rethink the entire situation. Once she finally makes it down the stairs she leans against the wall, the exhaustion creeping up as she pants lightly. It shouldn’t make her this tired to just get down the stairs. But she’s not at the kitchen just yet and she pushes the exhaustion away and slowly enters the kitchen where Brittany and Bela turn to her. “Morning.” She mumbles, heading to her purse and pulling out a yellow prescription bottles. She glances at it to make sure it’s what she actually wants. _Ondansetron_ , to help her keep her nausea and vomiting down. It does nothing for her appetite though but at least she wouldn’t be rushing to the bathroom every few minutes due to the smell.

Bela eyed her mother carefully for a moment, she didn’t really look all that good. Just like the last time she had gone to Beth’s house. And like last time she hadn’t woken up once Aunt Brittany had shown up. It wasn’t like Aunt Brittany was known for being quiet and sneaky.  She crinkles her nose a bit, but doesn’t say anything about it, instead grabbing a plate. “We made your favorite mom. Aunt Brittany was telling me how you met Charlie. She said it was _romantic_.”

Santana glances at Brittany who smiles and hums, and this is why she hadn’t allowed Brittany to watch Bela. She _knew_ it had been Brittany who had put the idea of Charlie into her daughter’s head. Of course it would be soon after she had gotten the original diagnosis, sure they had needed to run a few more tests to make absolutely sure, but this new fascination of who her other mother was, hadn’t actually been a problem. “Did she?” Santana asked trying not to turn her nose at the breakfast. It smelled awful, even if it was her favorite. “What exactly did she tell you?”

“That she was your knight in shining armor and that it was love at first sight,” Bela said sighing dramatically, she smiled. It sounded so romantic.

Brittany placed a glass of water in front of her and shot her a guilty look and Santana sighed. “It wasn’t armor, it was a very expensive Armani suit. She didn’t actually do any saving, and it wasn’t love at first sight. I thought Charlie was an as—jerk.” Santana said ruining her daughter’s perception of the entire event.

Bela’s face falls at this, “So she didn’t save you?” Maybe Charlie wasn’t some savior after all.

Santana sighs and looks at her daughter, she really doesn’t want to get rid of the wonder in her spirit, and if she believed in fairy tales right now, then what was the harm. She was ten. She didn’t want Bela to be a cynic this early on. “She did save me—from a terrible blind date. We were at some fancy restaurant, her client didn’t show up and my date was—” Santana bit her lip for a moment trying to think of how to explain it.

“She was a bitch,” Brittany says and smiles at Bela who looks at her and crinkles her nose. “It’s fine Bela, she was mean and she was going to be very mean to your mother.”

Santana groaned wondering why she allowed Brittany around her daughter again. It was an apt way of putting that her date had only want to sleep with her and had ditched when she wasn’t willing to put out instantly. “She only liked me for the way I looked, she didn’t like me for who I was on the inside and I don’t think she liked how intelligent I was. I thought the date was going well, but she excused herself to go to the bathroom. Ten minutes go by, then fifteen and it takes me that long to realize that she’s abandoned me at this expensive restaurant that I can’t really afford on my own, and she had been my ride there.” Her lips twitch upward in a nostalgic smile. “So here I am panicking about how I’m going to pay this 275 bill, and afford my part of the rent and food. And Charlie takes a seat across from me, and is like it seems we’ve both been abandoned. This calls for ice cream and cake, because they didn’t serve pie.”

“They didn’t serve pie? But you love pie,” Bela said, glancing at Brittany who snorts and covers her mouth.

Santana narrows her eyes at Brittany for a moment before looking at Bela. “She did save me in a way. She took care of the bill and honestly the company was considerably better. She also gave me a ride home, it was—nice. That’s how I met your mother. She gave me her number if I ever needed her help or some financial advice.”

Bela nods stuffing some more bacon into her mouth and chewing quickly. There was more she wanted to know. “How long did you and Charlie date for?”

“Three years,” Santana admits with a shrug and holds her hands up, stopping Bela from bombarding her with questions. Yes I loved her once upon a time, and yes for a time she loved me. But towards the end things got bad really quickly. I don’t think she was quite capable of loving me or anyone. There were broken promises, and situations that I don’t particularly want to talk about.” Santana said hoping that it ended the discussion.

Three years was a long time and Bela bit her lip, “Why didn’t you tell her about me?”

Santana sighed and glanced at Brittany. This situation was impossible to navigate and it’s why she avoided talking about Charlie. “I thought she was going to change, she promised me—she kept promising me that she would. She made efforts—and she’d be okay for weeks and then well, I was okay with that. I was okay of just being there and helping her. The day that I found out that I was pregnant with you, was the day I decided that you were more important than Charlie. I made the decision for both of us, because I’d never forgive myself and I know Charlie would never forgive herself either.”

“You know sometimes the knight gets a bit lost and you just need to find them again,” Bela says quietly. “Do you ever think that you could love her again?”

Santana sighed, “It’s been ten years Bela. Charlie isn’t some hotshot taking Wall Street by storm anymore, she’s not talking about being the power couple and taking over New York, she’s a contractor. I don’t even want that anymore. She’s a different person and I’m a different person, we didn’t grow together as a couple. She’s a stranger to me.” Broken, the Charlie she knew wouldn’t spend so often staring at the ground. “I don’t think it’s possible anymore.” Charlie wouldn’t want her anyway. She was bald and she had this blasted disease in her body, she felt disgusting most of the time.

Bela frowned that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Charlie still loved her mom, she just needed a way to make it happen. She pulls away from the island and looks at Brittany and her mother. “I’m going to go work on my planets project.” She said excusing herself. She was going to work on an operation to get her parents back together.

* * *

 

Quinn rubbed her temple slowly, not quite sure how to put this in words, but she was agitated. “I don’t see why you didn’t tell her to take the proper test?” She groused, looking at her wife. It had been a long night on call at the hospital and this was not what she wanted to hear when she first got back into her apartment. “Plus I thought we agreed to stay out of it. Santana is her mother and she has every right to protect her daughter.” Quinn points out calmly. She dropped her voice, “I understand her not wanting Charlie anywhere near her kid. You know I don’t like her taking Beth out unsupervised. I remember a time when you weren’t comfortable with it either.”

Rachel sighed and rubbed her forehead. They had definitely had this conversation a million times. “I was under the mistaken opinion that Charlie was the only member of both of our families to not show up within twenty-four hours of Beth’s birth. I _mistakenly_ believed that she was still using at the time.” She wasn’t going to let Quinn rewrite history.

Quinn rolled her eyes, “Dad and I had every right to tell her to leave Rachel.”

“What was she going to do Quinn? Sell Beth for some crack? Maybe you had every right to keep her away, but it took you five years to make some attempt to fix it, and look at the result. Beth uses Charlie as a piggy bank, manipulating her emotions to get toys out of her. Or have you not noticed how she only calls Charlie by her first name. She wouldn’t dare do that with Frannie, or even my parents. It’s impossible to fix that behavior with you acting like you do.” Rachel points out. She didn’t like it, she understood diva-ish behavior but for the most part she had been respectful to adults. It also worried her that if Beth made a mistake, that Quinn would shut her out as well.

“Who says we need to correct the behavior? Beth’s nine years old. Do we really want her looking up to a drug addict? And before you start on it. I’m the one that checks up on her, I still love Charlie, but Beth’s safety comes first. I checked up on her when my parents didn’t. Frannie couldn’t be bothered to. I make sure she’s still breathing. So don’t in some backhanded way try and pin this or suggest that I don’t love my sister.”

“I’m not doing anything of the sort,” Rachel said carefully, wondering if it was the best time to tell Quinn about Charlie wanting to cut the cord ages ago. Charlie hadn’t mentioned it since and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. “I just—you were the one that insisted that you wanted her to take responsibility Quinn and maybe I thought that you could _talk_ to her. Like this could fix your relationship with her. She’s your sister and that’s her daughter, she shouldn’t have to try to take crappy photos of her in the park. She wants to be a parent and I’m sure she’d like your advice on parenting.” Rachel said and Quinn stared at her blankly.

“I do talk to her.”

“No, you talk _down_ to her.” Rachel said pointedly.

Quinn bristled at the implication. Charlie was the drug addict who had thrown her life away. She hadn’t forced the drugs up her nose. She hadn’t made Charlie overdose. This wasn’t her problem to fix. “Santana has every right to keep her daughter safe. If Charlie wanted to actually be a parent then she’d be a bit proactive and have Frannie get her custody. Which wouldn’t happen, Frannie might be a gigantic bitch, and quite possibly missing a soul, but even she knew that Charlie wasn’t fit to be a parent.

Rachel sighs, Quinn was right to some degree. Santana had every right to protect her daughter, but this was supervised visits. “You know, I worry that if Beth does something wrong, that cutting her out of your life is going to be your solution.”

Quinn ran a hand through her hair, “I _believe_ in personal responsibility,” Quinn sighs. This argument wasn’t just going to go away. “I am helping her Rachel. I’m doing my best and taking responsibility for her kid and making sure that she has a safe place to go—and maybe a place to call home if the worst comes to the worst.”

Rachel closed her eyes, “Quinn, she’s Charlie’s daughter. We are _not_ going to adopt her if, god forbid, anything happens to Santana unless Charlie wants us to. Nor are you going to side with your parents on the issue. You may not be willing to forgive Charlie, but she hasn’t done drugs for ten years. At some point you’re going to need to get over yourself. I love you and I know you’re trying to do what’s right by Bela and Santana, but Charlie is your sister.” Quinn opened her mouth to argue, and Rachel held her hands up. “Your sister who is getting her ten year sobriety coin, which is a big deal. She didn’t invite you, think about that for a moment. She didn’t invite any of your family. She makes excuses when we invite her for dinner, or anywhere for that matter.”

“Please, you make it seem like a bad thing. I don’t even want to go to half of my family functions. Charlie gets a pass. Besides she doesn’t show up to your shows either. My family supports you and your dream—”

“Charlie just doesn’t show up when your entire family is there. She also buys her own ticket and comes to a show randomly.” Rachel sighs. “I get that you’re furious with her and hurt, but it’s been ten years Quinn. You need to give her a chance and you need to _listen_ to her. Actually listen to her.”  

Quinn sighs, “Do you know what happens to a person’s brain when they’re addicted to drugs? They are simply incapable of loving other people. It becomes about the drug. When they’re going to get their next fix, it doesn’t matter who they hurt or what they do. What am I supposed to do? She _chose_ that, even if you believe that addiction is a disease. She _chose_ to take the risk. So yes she needs to take responsibility. She doesn’t get a pass from me all because we’re twins.”

“Even if you look at it that way and I do believe that you and your parents have every right to take the tough love approach with her and not enable her bad behavior. But she isn’t irresponsible anymore, she’s started her own business. She goes to her meetings. She suffered and she did it by herself, without your support. Your dad always said to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and that is _exactly_ what Charlie did. When is it going to be enough for you Quinn?” Rachel asked.  

“When she takes the damn test that we want her to take and goes back to work,” Quinn says throwing up her hands. Charlie went from making high six-figures to being a contractor, how could Rachel even begin to think that this was her sister. She was about to explain her feelings to Rachel when there was a knock on the door, and Beth popped her head in.

“Mum you said you’d help with my science project. I want to win the science fair.” Beth reminded Quinn who flashed her daughter a grin.

“Of course so what are we going to try and build today?” Quinn asked, reaching over and squeezing Rachel’s hand. The argument was over for now, and she feels Rachel squeeze back gently. They were okay.

* * *

 

Charlie sighed and wiped her forehead and placed her hammer in her tool belt. Even though it was late March it had gotten progressively hotter throughout the day, and she was now in just a sweat soaked wife beater. She reached for her bottle of water only to realize that she had finished the water. She sighed, and picked up her power tools so she could start assembling the walls.

Judy hummed as she exited the Fabray mansion, carrying a pitcher of lemonade and a glass for her youngest daughter. She knew her daughter well enough, Charlie would never come up to the house. Especially not with Russell around. He hadn’t been thrilled with her presence, instead he had wanted to go for the more expensive contractor. Her daughter had only asked one question and that was where she had wanted the gazebo. She was surprised that Charlie had even taken it and Russell had muttered that she probably needed the money to support her habit. She smiled at Charlie who was pulling things in order. “It looks good,” she said inspecting the decking.

Charlie flicked her eyes to her mother for a moment before setting up the bottom brace, so she could start adding the spindles. “It’s just the deck,” she mumbles. Her mother was acting like she had done something amazing. It was a gazebo, she was sure her dad could figure out how to build it if he really wanted to.

Judy placed the tray on the small table that Charlie had set up to hold some of her tools, and went to inspect what Charlie had done so far. “And it’s leveled?” she asked trying to make conversation with her youngest, not noticing Charlie stiffen for a moment. She honestly had no idea what that really meant but she watched the Home and Garden Television network and they were always going on about making sure things were leveled.

Charlie flicked her eyes to her mother, “Yes. I can do my job, even if it’s just building something.” Charlie mumbled the last part suddenly getting embarrassed by what she did and she sighs and goes back to work.

Judy missed the defensiveness and smiled at her youngest, “You know Charlie when you do get better, we can talk about finding you a nice wife and maybe giving me some grandchildren. I’ve given up hope that Frannie will ever settle down and give me children and Quinn and Rachel aren’t giving me much more hope.” Judy said.

Charlie flicked her eyes towards her mother for a moment. She sighs after a moment and goes back to work. “Yeah,” she mumbles.

“There are some nice single girls at our church, active in the community. Absolute darlings, I can introduce you of course.”  Judy goes on hopefully.

Charlie sighed she had way too much going on in her life for her mother to attempt to set her up. “Do they want to be with an addict? Because I don’t think they do.” Charlie says and shakes her head.  “Thank you for the lemonade. I’ll bring it to the house later.” She adds hoping that ends the conversation.

Judy sighed, that hadn’t gone well but at least Charlie was thinking about it now. Maybe that was all she needed to do. “Just leave the glasses here when you’re finished for the day,” Judy said, the last thing that she felt like dealing with was a confrontation between Charlie and Russell.

 


	9. Chapter 9

Santana groaned as she woke up, her stomach turning violently as she scent of bacon and eggs and quite possibly hash browns wafted into her bedroom. She immediately stumbled out of bed and rushed to her ensuite bathroom, the distance tiring her out immediately as she kicked the lid up and emptied the pathetic contents of her stomach into the bowl. It was followed by dry heaving, before she was finally okay. She immediately flushed the toilet, ignoring the weird sound that it had been making lately before doing it a second time. She’d get a plumber in here another time. She glances at herself in the mirror and looks at the smooth top of her head and swallows back some of the raw emotion. Hair would grow back, she just needs to fight this. She needs to get better. Splashing some cold water on her face she moves over and flushes the toilet again and begins to brush her teeth. With a sigh she grabs the wig from where she had kept it and slips it on, adjusting it almost obsessively even though there really was no need to.

She slowly wraps herself in her robe and makes her way downstairs, where she can hear Brittany and Bela laughing in the kitchen and even though she’s _really_ not hungry and just wants to crawl into bed, she does want to talk to Bela about what happened yesterday with Rachel. She needed to rethink the entire situation. Once she finally makes it down the stairs she leans against the wall, the exhaustion creeping up as she pants lightly. It shouldn’t make her this tired to just get down the stairs. But she’s not at the kitchen just yet and she pushes the exhaustion away and slowly enters the kitchen where Brittany and Bela turn to her. “Morning.” She mumbles, heading to her purse and pulling out a yellow prescription bottles. She glances at it to make sure it’s what she actually wants. _Ondansetron_ , to help her keep her nausea and vomiting down. It does nothing for her appetite though but at least she wouldn’t be rushing to the bathroom every few minutes due to the smell.

Bela eyed her mother carefully for a moment, she didn’t really look all that good. Just like the last time she had gone to Beth’s house. And like last time she hadn’t woken up once Aunt Brittany had shown up. It wasn’t like Aunt Brittany was known for being quiet and sneaky.  She crinkles her nose a bit, but doesn’t say anything about it, instead grabbing a plate. “We made your favorite mom. Aunt Brittany was telling me how you met Charlie. She said it was _romantic_.”

Santana glances at Brittany who smiles and hums, and this is why she hadn’t allowed Brittany to watch Bela. She _knew_ it had been Brittany who had put the idea of Charlie into her daughter’s head. Of course it would be soon after she had gotten the original diagnosis, sure they had needed to run a few more tests to make absolutely sure, but this new fascination of who her other mother was, hadn’t actually been a problem. “Did she?” Santana asked trying not to turn her nose at the breakfast. It smelled awful, even if it was her favorite. “What exactly did she tell you?”

“That she was your knight in shining armor and that it was love at first sight,” Bela said sighing dramatically, she smiled. It sounded so romantic.

Brittany placed a glass of water in front of her and shot her a guilty look and Santana sighed. “It wasn’t armor, it was a very expensive Armani suit. She didn’t actually do any saving, and it wasn’t love at first sight. I thought Charlie was an as—jerk.” Santana said ruining her daughter’s perception of the entire event.

Bela’s face falls at this, “So she didn’t save you?” Maybe Charlie wasn’t some savior after all.

Santana sighs and looks at her daughter, she really doesn’t want to get rid of the wonder in her spirit, and if she believed in fairy tales right now, then what was the harm. She was ten. She didn’t want Bela to be a cynic this early on. “She did save me—from a terrible blind date. We were at some fancy restaurant, her client didn’t show up and my date was—” Santana bit her lip for a moment trying to think of how to explain it.

“She was a bitch,” Brittany says and smiles at Bela who looks at her and crinkles her nose. “It’s fine Bela, she was mean and she was going to be very mean to your mother.”

Santana groaned wondering why she allowed Brittany around her daughter again. It was an apt way of putting that her date had only want to sleep with her and had ditched when she wasn’t willing to put out instantly. “She only liked me for the way I looked, she didn’t like me for who I was on the inside and I don’t think she liked how intelligent I was. I thought the date was going well, but she excused herself to go to the bathroom. Ten minutes go by, then fifteen and it takes me that long to realize that she’s abandoned me at this expensive restaurant that I can’t really afford on my own, and she had been my ride there.” Her lips twitch upward in a nostalgic smile. “So here I am panicking about how I’m going to pay this 275 bill, and afford my part of the rent and food. And Charlie takes a seat across from me, and is like it seems we’ve both been abandoned. This calls for ice cream and cake, because they didn’t serve pie.”

“They didn’t serve pie? But you love pie,” Bela said, glancing at Brittany who snorts and covers her mouth.

Santana narrows her eyes at Brittany for a moment before looking at Bela. “She did save me in a way. She took care of the bill and honestly the company was considerably better. She also gave me a ride home, it was—nice. That’s how I met your mother. She gave me her number if I ever needed her help or some financial advice.”

Bela nods stuffing some more bacon into her mouth and chewing quickly. There was more she wanted to know. “How long did you and Charlie date for?”

“Three years,” Santana admits with a shrug and holds her hands up, stopping Bela from bombarding her with questions. Yes I loved her once upon a time, and yes for a time she loved me. But towards the end things got bad really quickly. I don’t think she was quite capable of loving me or anyone. There were broken promises, and situations that I don’t particularly want to talk about.” Santana said hoping that it ended the discussion.

Three years was a long time and Bela bit her lip, “Why didn’t you tell her about me?”

Santana sighed and glanced at Brittany. This situation was impossible to navigate and it’s why she avoided talking about Charlie. “I thought she was going to change, she promised me—she kept promising me that she would. She made efforts—and she’d be okay for weeks and then well, I was okay with that. I was okay of just being there and helping her. The day that I found out that I was pregnant with you, was the day I decided that you were more important than Charlie. I made the decision for both of us, because I’d never forgive myself and I know Charlie would never forgive herself either.”

“You know sometimes the knight gets a bit lost and you just need to find them again,” Bela says quietly. “Do you ever think that you could love her again?”

Santana sighed, “It’s been ten years Bela. Charlie isn’t some hotshot taking Wall Street by storm anymore, she’s not talking about being the power couple and taking over New York, she’s a contractor. I don’t even want that anymore. She’s a different person and I’m a different person, we didn’t grow together as a couple. She’s a stranger to me.” Broken, the Charlie she knew wouldn’t spend so often staring at the ground. “I don’t think it’s possible anymore.” Charlie wouldn’t want her anyway. She was bald and she had this blasted disease in her body, she felt disgusting most of the time.

Bela frowned that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Charlie still loved her mom, she just needed a way to make it happen. She pulls away from the island and looks at Brittany and her mother. “I’m going to go work on my planets project.” She said excusing herself. She was going to work on an operation to get her parents back together.

* * *

 

Quinn rubbed her temple slowly, not quite sure how to put this in words, but she was agitated. “I don’t see why you didn’t tell her to take the proper test?” She groused, looking at her wife. It had been a long night on call at the hospital and this was not what she wanted to hear when she first got back into her apartment. “Plus I thought we agreed to stay out of it. Santana is her mother and she has every right to protect her daughter.” Quinn points out calmly. She dropped her voice, “I understand her not wanting Charlie anywhere near her kid. You know I don’t like her taking Beth out unsupervised. I remember a time when you weren’t comfortable with it either.”

Rachel sighed and rubbed her forehead. They had definitely had this conversation a million times. “I was under the mistaken opinion that Charlie was the only member of both of our families to not show up within twenty-four hours of Beth’s birth. I _mistakenly_ believed that she was still using at the time.” She wasn’t going to let Quinn rewrite history.

Quinn rolled her eyes, “Dad and I had every right to tell her to leave Rachel.”

“What was she going to do Quinn? Sell Beth for some crack? Maybe you had every right to keep her away, but it took you five years to make some attempt to fix it, and look at the result. Beth uses Charlie as a piggy bank, manipulating her emotions to get toys out of her. Or have you not noticed how she only calls Charlie by her first name. She wouldn’t dare do that with Frannie, or even my parents. It’s impossible to fix that behavior with you acting like you do.” Rachel points out. She didn’t like it, she understood diva-ish behavior but for the most part she had been respectful to adults. It also worried her that if Beth made a mistake, that Quinn would shut her out as well.

“Who says we need to correct the behavior? Beth’s nine years old. Do we really want her looking up to a drug addict? And before you start on it. I’m the one that checks up on her, I still love Charlie, but Beth’s safety comes first. I checked up on her when my parents didn’t. Frannie couldn’t be bothered to. I make sure she’s still breathing. So don’t in some backhanded way try and pin this or suggest that I don’t love my sister.”

“I’m not doing anything of the sort,” Rachel said carefully, wondering if it was the best time to tell Quinn about Charlie wanting to cut the cord ages ago. Charlie hadn’t mentioned it since and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. “I just—you were the one that insisted that you wanted her to take responsibility Quinn and maybe I thought that you could _talk_ to her. Like this could fix your relationship with her. She’s your sister and that’s her daughter, she shouldn’t have to try to take crappy photos of her in the park. She wants to be a parent and I’m sure she’d like your advice on parenting.” Rachel said and Quinn stared at her blankly.

“I do talk to her.”

“No, you talk _down_ to her.” Rachel said pointedly.

Quinn bristled at the implication. Charlie was the drug addict who had thrown her life away. She hadn’t forced the drugs up her nose. She hadn’t made Charlie overdose. This wasn’t her problem to fix. “Santana has every right to keep her daughter safe. If Charlie wanted to actually be a parent then she’d be a bit proactive and have Frannie get her custody. Which wouldn’t happen, Frannie might be a gigantic bitch, and quite possibly missing a soul, but even she knew that Charlie wasn’t fit to be a parent.

Rachel sighs, Quinn was right to some degree. Santana had every right to protect her daughter, but this was supervised visits. “You know, I worry that if Beth does something wrong, that cutting her out of your life is going to be your solution.”

Quinn ran a hand through her hair, “I _believe_ in personal responsibility,” Quinn sighs. This argument wasn’t just going to go away. “I am helping her Rachel. I’m doing my best and taking responsibility for her kid and making sure that she has a safe place to go—and maybe a place to call home if the worst comes to the worst.”

Rachel closed her eyes, “Quinn, she’s Charlie’s daughter. We are _not_ going to adopt her if, god forbid, anything happens to Santana unless Charlie wants us to. Nor are you going to side with your parents on the issue. You may not be willing to forgive Charlie, but she hasn’t done drugs for ten years. At some point you’re going to need to get over yourself. I love you and I know you’re trying to do what’s right by Bela and Santana, but Charlie is your sister.” Quinn opened her mouth to argue, and Rachel held her hands up. “Your sister who is getting her ten year sobriety coin, which is a big deal. She didn’t invite you, think about that for a moment. She didn’t invite any of your family. She makes excuses when we invite her for dinner, or anywhere for that matter.”

“Please, you make it seem like a bad thing. I don’t even want to go to half of my family functions. Charlie gets a pass. Besides she doesn’t show up to your shows either. My family supports you and your dream—”

“Charlie just doesn’t show up when your entire family is there. She also buys her own ticket and comes to a show randomly.” Rachel sighs. “I get that you’re furious with her and hurt, but it’s been ten years Quinn. You need to give her a chance and you need to _listen_ to her. Actually listen to her.”  

Quinn sighs, “Do you know what happens to a person’s brain when they’re addicted to drugs? They are simply incapable of loving other people. It becomes about the drug. When they’re going to get their next fix, it doesn’t matter who they hurt or what they do. What am I supposed to do? She _chose_ that, even if you believe that addiction is a disease. She _chose_ to take the risk. So yes she needs to take responsibility. She doesn’t get a pass from me all because we’re twins.”

“Even if you look at it that way and I do believe that you and your parents have every right to take the tough love approach with her and not enable her bad behavior. But she isn’t irresponsible anymore, she’s started her own business. She goes to her meetings. She suffered and she did it by herself, without your support. Your dad always said to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and that is _exactly_ what Charlie did. When is it going to be enough for you Quinn?” Rachel asked.  

“When she takes the damn test that we want her to take and goes back to work,” Quinn says throwing up her hands. Charlie went from making high six-figures to being a contractor, how could Rachel even begin to think that this was her sister. She was about to explain her feelings to Rachel when there was a knock on the door, and Beth popped her head in.

“Mum you said you’d help with my science project. I want to win the science fair.” Beth reminded Quinn who flashed her daughter a grin.

“Of course so what are we going to try and build today?” Quinn asked, reaching over and squeezing Rachel’s hand. The argument was over for now, and she feels Rachel squeeze back gently. They were okay.

* * *

 

Charlie sighed and wiped her forehead and placed her hammer in her tool belt. Even though it was late March it had gotten progressively hotter throughout the day, and she was now in just a sweat soaked wife beater. She reached for her bottle of water only to realize that she had finished the water. She sighed, and picked up her power tools so she could start assembling the walls.

Judy hummed as she exited the Fabray mansion, carrying a pitcher of lemonade and a glass for her youngest daughter. She knew her daughter well enough, Charlie would never come up to the house. Especially not with Russell around. He hadn’t been thrilled with her presence, instead he had wanted to go for the more expensive contractor. Her daughter had only asked one question and that was where she had wanted the gazebo. She was surprised that Charlie had even taken it and Russell had muttered that she probably needed the money to support her habit. She smiled at Charlie who was pulling things in order. “It looks good,” she said inspecting the decking.

Charlie flicked her eyes to her mother for a moment before setting up the bottom brace, so she could start adding the spindles. “It’s just the deck,” she mumbles. Her mother was acting like she had done something amazing. It was a gazebo, she was sure her dad could figure out how to build it if he really wanted to.

Judy placed the tray on the small table that Charlie had set up to hold some of her tools, and went to inspect what Charlie had done so far. “And it’s leveled?” she asked trying to make conversation with her youngest, not noticing Charlie stiffen for a moment. She honestly had no idea what that really meant but she watched the Home and Garden Television network and they were always going on about making sure things were leveled.

Charlie flicked her eyes to her mother, “Yes. I can do my job, even if it’s just building something.” Charlie mumbled the last part suddenly getting embarrassed by what she did and she sighs and goes back to work.

Judy missed the defensiveness and smiled at her youngest, “You know Charlie when you do get better, we can talk about finding you a nice wife and maybe giving me some grandchildren. I’ve given up hope that Frannie will ever settle down and give me children and Quinn and Rachel aren’t giving me much more hope.” Judy said.

Charlie flicked her eyes towards her mother for a moment. She sighs after a moment and goes back to work. “Yeah,” she mumbles.

“There are some nice single girls at our church, active in the community. Absolute darlings, I can introduce you of course.”  Judy goes on hopefully.

Charlie sighed she had way too much going on in her life for her mother to attempt to set her up. “Do they want to be with an addict? Because I don’t think they do.” Charlie says and shakes her head.  “Thank you for the lemonade. I’ll bring it to the house later.” She adds hoping that ends the conversation.

Judy sighed, that hadn’t gone well but at least Charlie was thinking about it now. Maybe that was all she needed to do. “Just leave the glasses here when you’re finished for the day,” Judy said, the last thing that she felt like dealing with was a confrontation between Charlie and Russell.

 


	10. Chapter 10

Puck glanced at Charlie and winced she’d been riding his and the rest of the crews ass all day, insisting that they did things right. “Charlie—we get it. It’s where your daughter lives. We’re busting our asses and we know how important this is to you—so take a walk before they shoot you with a nail gun.” Puck said tugging on Charlie’s arm. She had been getting her hands into everything, inspecting everything cleaning up so the place didn’t look like a war zone. “We’ve done this a million time.”

“Yeah but—” Charlie began only to notice how most of her men were now looking at her, some were amused, others were annoyed. She rubbed her hands maybe she was being too much of a busybody. She sighed and was about to apologize when her phone rang and she immediately picked it up glancing at the name on the screen. “I’ve got to take this—please don’t screw around with the nail gun.”

“Answer your phone,” Puck said pushing her out the house. “I’ll hold down the fort.” He shakes his head as he shoves Charlie down the three steps on the porch and closes the door. She was being a worry wart, they were fine and all the guys knew how important this was to her. They would do the best damn job they could.

Charlie glares at the door as she answers her phone, “Frannie.”

‘ _So we’re clear Beth didn’t back your story up. On the off chance that you were telling the truth I checked your story out with Rachel. I had to drag it out of her though. It was surprising, I was almost certain that she was terrified of me. I’ll have to work on that.’_ Frannie’s voice came through and Charlie could hear her lean back in her chair.

Charlie shifted and glanced around to make sure no one was listening. She didn’t blame Frannie for making sure that the story was real, she hadn’t spoken to her oldest sister in years. “So—about that loan? I’ll pay you back—you know I’m good for it. It might take a while but I promise to pay you back every cent Frannie.”

_‘Of course you will. That being said, all I can give you right now is five thousand dollars. Dad keeps an eye on all our trust funds to see how we’re spending it. I can’t just take out a huge amount without it alerting him, and I’m not going to dip into my savings for you.’_

Charlie swallowed, “Frannie I’m going to need a bit more money—at minimum twenty thousand dollars. I know it’s a lot but—”

_‘Charlie, the most I can get you is another nine thousand in two weeks. You want my advice, take the damn drug test, and get the money that you need. Apparently being a parent means making some sacrifices and if you needing money means dropping your pants in front of someone and peeing into a cup then just do it. Dad’s going to find out anyway.’_

Charlie sighed, “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

Frannie was quiet for a moment and tapped her fingers on her desk. ‘ _I’m trying to help you.  What would you do in my very expensive shoes? Look dad is going to find out about Bela, I’m certainly going the route of plausible deniability here but you know they’re going to be furious with you. No, I think mom might actually murder you. I do hope I get front row seats for that.’_

Charlie ran a hand through her hair. “Thanks Frannie.”

 _‘I’ll wire you the money into your account in about an hour.’_ Frannie informed Charlie and paused for a moment running her finger along her crystal candy dish in her office taking one of the imported chocolates and popping it into her mouth. _‘You know, I’m doing this out of the kindness of my heart, If I find out that you bought drugs with this money. Well—’_

Charlie took a seat on the porch for a moment, her lips quirked upwards. “Frannie—we both know you don’t have a heart.”

_‘I know. Really I’m only doing this because it will piss off Quinn that her dear and darling twin came to me instead of her. But—I suppose I’d like to meet your parasite—she is potty trained, can talk, and isn’t some sticky brat?’_

“She’s ten Frannie, I’m pretty sure she’s potty trained.” Charlie said with a smile. “She’s a good kid, Santana did a really good job with her.” Charlie glances back at the door, where she can hear the hammering and the saws and all the subcontractors that she had hired for this job laughing. “Thanks Frannie. If you ever need a renovation, I’ll do it and I won’t charge you for my time.” Charlie exhales as she ends the call. Well that’s one thing that she has. She really didn’t want to have to go to Quinn to get some money. She’d ask questions, and lecture her.

* * *

 

Brittany had been taking quite a bit of time off work, to make sure that Santana was okay. It was something that touched her, Brittany was truly her best friend in the world and even though she didn’t quite like being babied, she enjoyed the company. Even if she was terrified that they were going to fire Brittany for all the time she had taken off. But she needed Brittany, she needed someone especially after what had happened last night with the flooding.

Santana sighed sitting in perfect quiet with Brittany just taking her strength for a moment, while Brittany played angry birds on her phone.  “Last night—for a second—just a split second, I thought saw the woman I fell in love with last night.” Santana said quietly. She heard the sound of birds crashing into wood and stone structures and she could feel blue eyes focus on her. She didn’t personally know why she had brought it up, probably because Charlie had taken over her house and was fixing the damage. Or perhaps it was because she was furious at the smug grin on Bela’s face, the insinuation that she _needed_ Charlie to save her. As it was she doubted, strongly that she was ever going to hear the end of it.

Brittany exited the game and adjusted herself on the comfortable chair that she had stolen from someone’s office and dragged into Santana’s. She liked to spin in the office chairs. “Is that a bad thing or a good thing?” Brittany asked. She had never met Charlie and Santana, well the few times she did talk about Bela’s other mother. She had noticed something there, unresolved emotions.

Santana thought about the question as she worked on a client’s file quietly for a moment. “I don’t _fucking_ know,” Santana admitted rubbing her face. She looked around before sighing. “I don’t know,” she repeats again. The whole thing was utterly confusing. “It’s like she’s a shell of who she used to be—and I don’t think that’s a _good_ thing. But Charlie—well it’s totally different now. Like the Charlie I remember—fancy suits. Expensive shoes and watches, and cars. She would never be caught dead with an old beat up truck.” Santana said finally getting her thoughts out. “I mean—the confident smile is gone and I think—I scare her. This is the person who never needed my approval and just did what she wanted all the time. Confidence was something she had in spades, and that’s gone.” Santana frowned for a moment. “Like she broke and someone put her together all wrong.” Santana picks up a pen and taps it against her mahogany desk.

Brittany spun around in her chair and hummed taking all that in before responding. “Do you want her to be that person that you fell in love with again?” Brittany asked with a frown. If that was the case then Bela was going to be sorely disappointed that Operation Praying Mantis was never going to work.

Santana let out a laugh at this, as some nostalgia filled her. Did she miss the old Charlie? That was a loaded question. “We were supposed to be this power couple. Charlie was supposed to take over Wall Street having earned her first billion by now. She was always good with numbers and predicting where the markets were going to turn. I—well I was supposed to be in front of the Supreme Court.”  She smiles at the thought, at the time it was what she had wanted more than anything. To be that couple but the smile fades after a moment. “At the time I wanted to be that person. Maybe I put a bit too much pressure on Charlie, pushing her to make that first billion, to do be the absolute best.” Santana sighs. “To be ruthless when it called for it. And she was, ruthless that is. I wanted that dream with her so badly.”

Brittany nods this really wasn’t looking good for Operation Praying Mantis. “So what about now? Do you still want that?”

Santana smiles, “Of course not. I don’t need a billion dollars in investments, I don’t need to argue in front of the Supreme Court to let me know that I’m good at my job. I mean apart from the whole cancer thing, I love my life. I have you, I have friends and family—and Bela. If Bela had been born into that life she would have been spoiled and neglected, and she’d grow up to be one of those irritating little assholes that used affluenza as a defense. Maybe if Charlie was _this_ Charlie, things would have been different.” Santana shrugs it was what it was there was nothing she could do about the past.

“You two are connected, even if you don’t want to be, through Bela. You both created her, and from what Bela says and even you have said she’s been nothing but good to Bela. Even if she has no idea how to be a parent. If she’s not that person anymore I don’t see what the big deal is. You just finished saying how much she’s changed? Like what would the old Charlie have done if she found out that she had a daughter for ten years?”

Santana closed her eyes for a moment and shivered. “There would have been a massive war over Isabela. It would have been a brutal custody battle. She would have had the full might of the Fabray name behind her, demanding that she have custody. With my current condition—my diagnosis, no judge would simply just let it go. Of course it wouldn’t be to get to know Bela, that wouldn’t be why Charlie was fighting for custody. It would have been for the sole purpose to hurt me for leaving her. Once Charlie won, my guess is that she’d send her to some fancy boarding school. Or she would have gotten her a nanny. If Bela was lucky, she’d see Charlie once a month. And if she didn’t see Charlie, she’d definitely see Charlie during Fabray family events, where Bela would _need_ to be this perfect daughter. Because being some screw-up isn’t actually an option. And Bela would end up being the perfect Fabray. So we’re clear—it wasn’t just Charlie I ran away from, I didn’t want Bela raised as a Fabray.”

“I thought you said Quinn was your best friend? Well now I’m your best friend and I’m totally a better friend than she is,” Brittany said with a huff.

“She was and Quinn—she’s a good friend to have. Yeah she married a hobbit—but Rachel, is the person who keeps Quinn grounded. All the Fabray’s are damaged. Frannie is a sociopath. Quinn is, well, she lacks empathy sometimes, Charlie—well she ended up as a drug addict.” Santana shrugged it was the truth. Russel and Judy were hardly going to win any parent of the year awards. Even if they truly believed that they were good parents. There was more to life than just having a good job and a big bank account. “Truthfully Brittany, there’s a little part of me that is waiting for it to happen.”

Brittany hummed in response, maybe Bela did have a point and this would be good for Santana. “Except that hasn’t happened yet. Instead you have your ex-girlfriend fixing your house and redoing your basement, for free.”

Santana sighed, “I know, and as far as I know Quinn’s kept her promise to keep it a secret. I got the impression that Charlie isn’t exactly in the inner circle anymore. I’m running out of reasons to not let Bela spend some time with her. She showed up, even if I didn’t really want to call her. The drug thing—Rachel trusts her with Beth and from what I have seen she’s not on drugs anymore.” Santana took a sip of her water and closed her eyes for a moment. “What do you think I should do? Bela isn’t going to drop this and now that Charlie does know about her, I can’t insist that they stay apart. Bela’s only going to continue to act out and Charlie doesn’t quite know how to handle Bela yet. I made sure that I never spoke ill of Charlie in front of Bela. But I’ve been as honest as I could be, and Charlie’s not mincing it with Bela either. So what should I do?”

Brittany frowned ever so slightly. “Bela is ten, and I think you should make a choice. If you’re going to allow Charlie to be in her life, then you need to be careful and make sure you watch them and help Charlie become Bela’s parent instead of her friend. If you’re going to choose to keep them apart, then you’re going to need to be firm with Bela. She’s ten Santana, she doesn’t understand not really. Charlie is fun, and nice to her and buys her stuff when she asks and comes to the rescue. You’re both going to need to explain to her why this isn’t going to work. So she doesn’t end up hating Charlie or resenting you.” Brittany shrugged, it was the best answer she could give. She couldn’t tell Santana how to raise her daughter or even how to deal with Charlie, she just wanted Santana to be happy. “I think that you need to talk to Charlie regardless and have a conversation with her.”

Santana sighs and nods, “I don’t really have any choice in the matter.” Santana sighed and closed her eyes again letting the exhaustion take her for a bit. Just a quick nap and she’d finish her work for the day. She just wanted to protect Bela, to protect her daughter, and she was too tired to fight with Charlie.

* * *

 

“I’ll get it,” Quinn called out to Rachel as she went to the door. It was already relatively late and she had just finished putting Beth to bed. Even though her daughter claimed that she was too old for stories, she occasionally still liked to get them from her. She’d never get to old for bedtime stories. She frowned ever so slightly when she saw her twin standing outside her apartment door fidgeting with a manila folder. She hesitates for a moment and looks at Charlie for a long moment through the peephole before finally opening it. “Charlie?” Her sister doesn’t really smile at her and makes no attempt to enter her apartment even when she steps aside.

“I need thirty thousand dollars,” Charlie says as she pushes the folder into Quinn’s hands. Peeing in front of a stranger had been difficult, even after she had finished a few cans of soda as well and still, the whole experience had been humiliating.

Quinn took the folder and frowned, “You know the rules Charlie—”

“I took the test and passed, it’s in the file.” Charlie interrupted. “I put my bank details there, I just—I sort of need the money right away.” Charlie said taking a step back. She really just wanted to head back down to Philadelphia so she could get to work. If she worked all night she might be able to put a dent in what they had to. She rubbed the back of her neck, Puck was doing some of his best work.

Quinn frowned and opened the test and flicked her eyes at Charlie for a moment as she glanced through the test. All of the results read negative. She smiles at Charlie, “What do you need the money for?” Quinn asks, thirty thousand dollars was a lot of money.

Charlie eyed Quinn, for a moment she wasn’t surprised at the question. “It doesn’t matter Quinn, I passed the test. I don’t have to fill out a form.” Charlie says not wanting to get Quinn involved, it wasn’t any of her business. “I have some—business to attend to. Could you get this done as soon as possible?” Charlie asks her twin.

Quinn blinked, slightly surprised that Charlie hadn’t told her exactly what she was doing. Charlie didn’t just stop what she was doing and ask for that much money. It was a lot of money. “Look if you’re in some sort of trouble—or you have a bookie or something—”

“No! I just need the money. It’s not for drugs. It’s not for some gambling debts. I don’t have to tell you what I’m doing with it. That was never part of the deal and—I don’t want to,” Charlie says after a moment. “It’s not any of your business.”

“Is that what you’re going to say to dad when he asks?” Quinn snaps at Charlie. “I’m _trying_ to help you.”

“Then have dad follow me again, like he did last time. I don’t need your help Quinn. Not anymore.” Charlie rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. “I really have to be places tonight, so thanks I guess for putting the money in my account. Um—say hi to Rachel for me.” Charlie said pulling away from Quinn’s door. She had a two hour drive back to Santana’s house and it was already late.

“Don’t make me call Frannie,” Quinn threatened taking a step into the hallway. It was what they did, before getting their parents involved. Sides needed to be drawn and if anyone could make Charlie do what she wanted, it was Frannie.

“Go ahead,” Charlie said with a shrug. “I’ve got to go Quinn,” she said as she walked away. Maybe if she moved quickly she could still get to Lowes.

Quinn scowled, Frannie would be able to drag it out of Charlie. With a huff she grabbed her phone and dialed Frannie’s number. She didn’t care if she was being petty, she was used to her twin bucking whenever she demanded something, and it was a lot of money. Charlie might be into gambling and if that was the case—well she wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to do with that information. “Frannie,” Quinn says after her sister picks up.

 _‘Quinn, I hope this is important. I talked to you last week, and this is far too much interaction for me.’_ First Charlie, now Quinn. She hoped that this wasn’t becoming some sort of pattern. Perhaps she should just block their numbers, but that seemed like far too much work.

“Charlie just asked for thirty thousand dollars! She won’t tell me what it’s for and I think it might be for some bookie.” Quinn said ignoring Frannie’s usual griping. This was important.  

 _‘Oh, so she finally took the drug test? I’m glad that she listened to my advice.’_ Frannie said smirking when she was met with silence from Quinn’s side. ‘ _Just give her the money Quinn. Is that all?’_

Quinn blinked and stared at the phone since when did Charlie and Frannie talk. Frannie didn’t really _like_ dealing with them. “Since when do you—? You know what she needs the money for!” Quinn said accusingly. “Since when do you talk to Charlie? You hate her!”

 _‘I hate everyone equally.’_ Frannie corrected. _‘Yes I do know what she needs the money for. No I’m not going to tell you. It’s privileged.’_ Frannie waited for a moment listening to Quinn sputter, a smirk slowly appearing on her face, as she went for the kill. _‘The better question is why didn’t she come to you to borrow money? Another interesting question is: why she listened to me instead of you about taking the test? So I’m going to let you figure that out. I mean I’d love to say that I’d like to stay and chat, but that would be a lie.’_  Frannie said ending the call and tossing her phone onto the nightstand. She flicked her eyes back down to the person she was straddling.

Joe flashed Frannie an amused smile, “You know Frannie, it’s rude to answer the phone when we’re having sex,” he says there’s a teasing note in his voice as he lays back down. He wasn’t at all upset by this, it was just Frannie.

Frannie rolled her eyes. “Shut-up,” she murmured feeling him buck his hips upward ever so slightly, causing her to shiver hard.  

 


	11. Chapter 11

Santana sighed as she drove into her neighborhood, Bela had forgotten her planet project at home and the thing was due in a few days. They still had to paint the planets and mount them and she wasn’t quite in the mood to go re-buy supplies when they were sitting in a bag in Bela’s room. Which was why she was here to begin with, staring at the massive trash disposal that seemed to be filled with old pipes. She watched as people were exiting and entering her house tossing things into the trash. She blinked it had only been two days. A tarp was out on her front lawn, truthfully she hadn’t thought that Charlie would be any good, but google was her friend and she had read some great reviews.

Personally, she felt rather mixed about the situation. Even with Brittany’s advice, she was still relatively unsure about what to do. What she did know, what she could see was that ten years had been a very long time. Charlie was _not_ the person that she remembered, in fact it was like Charlie was a different person all together and she was curious. It _had been_ ten _years_. Ignoring Charlie’s existence and hoping that she went away wasn’t a viable option anymore, her darling daughter had made sure that it was no longer an option. The very _least_ she could do was have a conversation with her ex-girlfriend. It wasn’t something that she was looking forward to in the slightest, but it was about time it happened. Even if she felt it was ten years too late.

She entered her house, walking up the porch carefully, hoping that they’d at least clean up after themselves when they were done. She poked her head into the kitchen and recognized the stupid haircut on the man that Charlie had brought over. Ten years ago, Charlie wouldn’t have been caught dead with someone like that, and yet she had insisted that he was the best plumber that she knew. The whole thing was—baffling. “Puck was it?” Santana called out causing the much taller man to turn and flash her a big grin.

“Santana, come to check in on us?” Puck asked with a smile on his face. “Things are actually going better than expected but we’re making sure that we do it right. So we are taking our time, we’re finishing up your bathroom now. There was a bit of mold growing in the vents but we’ve managed to clean that out. There was also some minor electrical damage, but you don’t have to worry we’re taking care of it. We’ll take care of you. You’re like family.” Puck said.

Santana eyed him curiously, he seemed friendly enough and he was giving her an update. “Thank you, Puck. Is it okay if I go upstairs? Isabela forgot her project and I need to grab some supplies. And do you know where Charlie is?”

“Yeah she’s been busy in the basement, and of course you can. It’s pretty safe, you got lucky you know. There was a small bit of rot but not in any of the support beams. If those beams had rotted through, it wouldn’t have just been falling drywall you would have had to worry about. Your bathtub or a bed could have fallen through the ceiling if that was the case.” Puck informed her. “Just head on up and grab what you need to grab.”

Santana nods and heads up the stairs so she can find the items that Bela needed for her project. She tries to ignore the holes in her walls and she wonders how they’re going to get everything fixed in a few days. Not to mention the paint, was she going to need to find a painter? And just how much was this costing Charlie?  There seemed to be quite a few people around and she knew from experience the more people the more it jacked up the cost. She enjoyed watching HGTV. It was all questions that added to the list of things to ask Charlie when she finally talked to her. She opened Bela’s room and sighed as it was relatively untouched, and quickly went about finding the project and grabbing the painting supplies.  She glanced around to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything before making her way down to the basement. She didn’t quite know what she was going to say to Charlie. Or where to even begin, maybe this wasn’t even the right time to have that talk. She spots Charlie working on taking out her damaged hardwood floors and bites her lip. She opens her mouth to say something. Anything but no words come out and she bites her lip and frowns, this was a terrible idea. She would find some other time to talk to Charlie, and she turns to leave.

“How bad is it?”

Santana pauses and closes her eyes, Charlie had never been stupid, and she had practically told Charlie the other day that she was seriously sick. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Santana asks trying to brush the comment away.

Charlie sits back and turns to Santana finally, “I mean the cancer. How bad is it?” Charlie questions, all the driving back and forth had given her the time to finally think about it and it had all made sense. Why Quinn had dragged her here to begin with and insisted that she take care of Bela. The falling asleep, the nausea, the wig, the fact that Santana had lost weight.

Santana was quiet for a long moment, there were only a few people who knew. She had only really only wanted to tell Brittany. She barely even said the diagnosis, preferring to pretend that it simply wasn’t happening to her. “I have a stage three Thymoma, the prognosis—it isn’t the best.” Santana stated after a moment.

Charlie frowned and turned to look at Santana, “Isabela doesn’t know?”

“No. I was going to tell her, but that was the night she dragged you back into my life. I didn’t know how to—I didn’t want you to try and take her or force custody because I was sick.” Santana said looking at Charlie. Something flashes through Charlie’s eyes and she can’t quite place it.

“I wouldn’t—” Charlie begins wanting to defend herself.

Santana holds up her hands, she wasn’t being unfair. It’s just what it was. Just being angry at Charlie was not going to fix anything. “Ten years ago you would have, and we both know you would have.”

Charlie frowns and begins to defend herself again, “I wouldn’t have,” but she knows it’s a lie. She runs a hand through her hair and looks at Santana, “Ten years ago, I was addicted to cocaine and thought that I was invincible and untouchable. I probably would have done something like that.” Charlie picks at some dried paints on her pants and chews the inside of her lip a bit. “I said I’d do your basement—so I could spend time with her. It was manipulative, and I’m sorry.”

Santana rolled her eyes, Charlie was still a Fabray, that wasn’t anything new. She had figured that it was a ploy to spend some time with Bela supervised. She looks around her basement for a moment, the furniture was gone and she realizes that she might need new  furniture. “Are you really clean?”

Charlie nods, “I have been for ten years. I stumbled a bit at first—but I got clean. It wasn’t—easy,” Charlie admits. “I have—test results, if you want to see them.” Charlie was quiet for a moment studying Santana’s face to see if she believed her. “I—get a tattoo for every year that I’m clean. I can show you if you want.”

“You got a tattoo? I thought you were terrified of needles,” Santana said there was some amusement in her voice as Charlie’s cheeks turned a light pink.

Charlie exhales slowly and pulls up her shirt on the side revealing a series of tally marks on her ribs, each thick black line represented a year. She was due to go in and get a new one done so she could start a new set underneath it. “One mark for every year,” Charlie admits. She’s quiet as she watches Santana’s eyes rake over her tattoo. She was one of the few people who even knew about it.

“There are nine,” Santana said flicking her eyes to Charlie. She was surprised, Charlie had never exactly been that in shape but clearly she worked out lately.

Charlie pulls her shirt down, “I was supposed to get my ten year coin and then go out and get it done, but I haven’t had time lately,” Charlie said with a shrug. “I’ve been going to meetings for ten years.”

Santana was quiet, “You get clean after I leave—”

“You leaving was the right choice. I was—I am an addict.  I don’t think towards the end I loved you—I mean I love you—I loved you.” Charlie makes a face but chooses to keep going despite her flub. “It was about the drugs, and I needed to hit rock bottom. I was prideful and like Icarus I flew too close to the sun. I fell hard and fast. After you left, my father found out. I was cut off, my family turned on me—I tried to salvage my life—one call from my father and they tested everyone at work. I failed and was terminated.” Charlie exhales. She had spiraled once Santana was gone. “I was going to be evicted and no other firm in the city would touch me.  So I went to rehab. Not one of the fancy ones. I couldn’t afford to go to one. So I sold the car and went to this one where they put me to work. That’s where I learned how to do all this. I learned a lot of things, there. I can sort of work on cars too—not as well. Anyway—after I left I decided to take some classes and get licensed, and I used the rest of my money to start my own business.”

Santana tilted her head ten years really was a long time, “I know it doesn’t mean much—but I’m glad that you’re clean,” Charlie flashes her a small smile. She sighs wishing there was a place for her to sit down on. She’s quiet for a moment, a part of her wondering why Charlie had never bothered to look her up, it wasn’t as if she was impossible to find. She had Facebook after all. “You have to understand Charlie my daughter—our daughter is the most important person in my life right now—”

“I know, you did a really good job with her. She’s a really good kid,” Charlie interrupted earnestly.

Santana frowned, she really didn’t like being interrupted and she needed to say this, she needed to face reality. “I may not have that for long,” Santana replies. “My life, that is. I need to face facts and realize that I may have a few months after the chemo. I may not be around for much longer. It’s—it’s a battle to get out of bed in the mornings—the point I’m trying to make Charlie is as Bela’s other parent, if anything happens to me. You’re going to need to take care of her. I need to know that you can, I need to know for a fact that if anything happens to me that you _can_ take care of her. It’s not fair to either of you to create a situation where you’re both strangers to each other, and Bela will need you to be her parent and rock if anything happens to me.”

Charlie stared at Santana incredulously. “What do you mean, you’re going to have a few months—?” Panic creeping into her voice. Dying was not something that crossed her mind. People survived cancer all the time. Santana was a fighter, this couldn’t be happening. “Santana—”

“The prognosis wasn’t good. I should thank you, Bela’s been so absorbed and focused on you that she hasn’t noticed. Or if she has she hasn’t said anything. Charlie—don’t you dare panic. This isn’t a panic situation. I’m not dead yet.” Santana said firmly. “I’ve got a few chemo sessions to go and Dr. Pillsbury said that I can beat this thing. So that’s what I’m going to do.” Charlie nods wordlessly. “I have another one this Saturday, and I was thinking that Bela should spend time with you.”

“I—what?” Charlie blinks.

Santana glances at the bags in her hands and looks at Charlie. “She has a school project, they’re learning about the solar system. I imagine I’m not going to do well with the smell of paint and I get extremely tired after my chemo sessions and the nausea is terrible as well.” She blinks, Charlie probably didn’t want to hear about that. “Look, you can’t do the project for her, but you can help her.”

“I just—I don’t—I just began parenting classes Santana and I’ve missed a bunch because I’m here—”

Santana blinked, “You’re taking parenting classes?”

“Well—I thought that if I showed you that I was going to take it seriously and prove to you that I could take care of Isabela—you’d let me have supervised visits.” Charlie said frowning as she explained.

Santana relaxed for a moment, she wanted to know her daughter. It showed some growth on Charlie’s part. “Look—Bela can be a—difficult at times. She takes after you in that regard,” Santana ignores the scoff from Charlie as she continues. “How about I give you some basic rules. No more buying her things just because she asks. It’s not how I raised her, I didn’t even think she would ask. I mean yeah you can buy her food and stuff but no more huge gifts. And you’re going to need to learn to ignore the face. I know—it took me years.” Santana informs Charlie watching as Charlie pulls out a notebook and begins to scrawl the instructions down so she doesn’t miss anything or forget. That’s new as well, Charlie hanging onto her every word, like she held all the answers. She didn’t, she wasn’t even sure if this was a good idea, but Bela had been alone with Charlie before and had come back in one piece she was hoping that it happened again.

 


	12. Chapter 12

Santana glanced over at Isabela who was basically vibrating with excitement at the thought of spending most of the day with Charlie. She shook her head, it had been awhile since she had seen Bela this enthusiastic about something. “I know you want to play with Charlie, but you need to finish your project first. Charlie’s just going to help you, she’s not going to do the project for you. Once you’re finished if Charlie wants to take you for lunch or dinner she can, but nothing expensive Isabela.” Santana said firmly, causing Bela to look up at her. “I’m serious Bela. You need to behave yourself.”

Bela puffed out her cheeks in a huff but nodded, “I promise, I’ll behave myself,” she said. If she didn’t maybe her mother wouldn’t let her spend time with Charlie anymore. She shifted the supplies in her hand, “If we finish early can we play video games?” Bela asked.

Santana eyed her daughter, “You have a lot of work to do Bela, but if you do finish early then I guess you can play video games with Charlie.  Look—even though you see her as a friend, she’s your other mother. So her rules go. If things don’t go well, you can call Brittany or Rachel to come pick you up.” Santana said with a sigh.

“Of course things are going to go well—she’s the _savior_ ,” Bela said as if that were obvious. She was going to spend the rest of the day getting her back on the path. Charlie needed to impress her mom, if operation Praying Mantis was to succeed. Her mom needed a happy ending and it was obvious that the savior needed to save herself.

Santana eyed her daughter once more and knocked on the door, the door swung open after the first knock and Santana stared at Charlie who looked to be quite nervous. She blinked for a moment and looked at her daughter who immediately pulled Charlie into a hug. “I wrote down some rules and some emergency numbers if you need anything.” Santana said reaching into her purse to grab the piece of paper she had jotted it down on.

Charlie nods and looks at Bela, “Um why don’t you set up on the island, I’ll just get the information and we can start working on your solar system project,” Charlie suggests and Bela nods moving inside the apartment. “I got her snacks—but then I realized I didn’t know if she was allergic to anything—”

“She isn’t, I had her checked out. She does like the crunchy peanut butter though,” Santana said smoothly studying Charlie. Her eyes were clear and alert, even if she seemed to be fidgeting. “Charlie. She’s a ten year old girl, she isn’t going to murder you in your sleep.” Santana said giving Charlie a look. “She’s relatively self-sufficient but don’t let her play video games until her homework is done.”

Charlie nods as she takes the emergency list from Santana, “I’m going to be okay.”

Santana nodded and leaned past the doorway and looked at Bela who had emptied the contents of her bag on Charlie’s island. “Do try not to break her Bela.” Santana says to her daughter who grins and looks up at her. Santana smiles, when she was younger Bela had been a terror to nearly everyone who she didn’t know. She didn’t like strangers and finding a babysitter had been damn near impossible. She had never been more grateful for the help of her mother and Brittany.

“I make no promises,” Bela says smiling at Charlie, with a mischievous glint in her eyes that probably scared Charlie down to her core.

Charlie eyed both Santana and Bela for a moment not quite following what was going on. There’s a small pang, that she doesn’t understand their inside jokes and she’s just a stranger standing on the outside, like a creeper, watching them. She pushes the thoughts away for now, and looks at Santana for a moment and reaches forward and gives her arm a gentle comforting squeeze. Bela didn’t know and she wasn’t going to take that away from Santana. She could do this but—she leans in and quietly asks Santana. “What happens if she starts crying?”

Santana stared at Charlie like she had grown another head, “She’s ten years old Charlie, and if she starts crying comfort her.” Santana said as if it were obvious. She wondered why she thought this was a good idea. This seemed like a terrible idea, maybe Rachel wasn’t busy today—

“Alright mom—bye! We have to start working on my project so we can play Mario Kart and I can beat Charlie.” Bela said, her mom would never leave if she didn’t send her on her way. “We’ll be fine.”

Santana eyed her daughter and then looked at Charlie, “Emergency numbers. Use them.” She informed Charlie bluntly causing the contractor to nod before she finally left to go to the hospital for yet another bought of hell. She sighed and adjusted her wig before she left her daughter with Charlie, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut.

Charlie moved towards Bela who was rolling a wooden ball on her island, “So what do we have to do?” Charlie asked.

“I just have to paint these,” Bela said pointing at the paint kit her mother had gotten her. She arranged the spherical objects on the counter so that they were in order, from the giant ball to the smaller ones. “Okay, I figured it out. Mercury is grey. Venus is yellow. Earth is blueish green. Mars is red—”

Charlie nodded as she took a seat, “Okay—why don’t we put a base coat on these, then give them a nice coat of paint. So you aren’t stuck painting in only one color and you can highlight the different areas in secondary and tertiary colors?” Charlie asks. “I have one of those lamps that are meant to dry paint faster so it won’t take as long?”

Bela stared at Charlie, there was some enthusiasm in her voice and she frowned and looked at the spherical objects. “This seems like a lot of work for a school project,” Bela points out, she had just planned to dip them in paint and call it a day.

“If we do it my way you’ll probably get an A, which you can show your mom. Who might us let us spend more time together,” Charlie suggests and she can see Bela thinking about it.

“Can I use your power-tools?” Bela asks after a moment, this might be more fun if she could at least get to use some of Charlie’s power tools.

Charlie blinks at this and stares at Bela, “For—painting?”

“Well I sort of need to put this together somehow. Maybe we can have a stand like Callie’s. Mom said her dad probably does it for her. But if you let me use your power tools—”

“No,” Charlie said immediately. She may not be good at parenting, but even she could tell this was a disaster waiting to happen. “Your mom will murder me if you come home with any new holes in your body. Especially if it’s made from a nail gun.”

Bela pouted for a moment, “Fine, but I’m totally not going to beat Callie’s amazing project.” Bela said with a dramatic sigh.

Charlie frowned not liking the sound of that, back in school she tried to beat Quinn at everything, sometimes she won, other times—most of the time she lost out. “Okay, how about we head down to Lowes and an art store. I have an idea for your project and maybe you could beat Callie’s amazing project. You’re still going to do all the work though,” Charlie informed Bela.

* * *

 

Bela wiped her forehead from where she was wearing one of Charlie’s baggy sweatshirts that now had black paint covered on it as well as various other’s color. This actually had been a lot of fun, she got to use a device to spray paint the planets, which were now drying under the heat lamp. She had just finished painting the huge black board that Charlie had gotten her. “Okay, so we’re going to put the sun in the middle?”

Charlie nods, “We’re going to cut it in half—did you use the glow in the dark paint that we got?” Charlie asks Bela as she finishes cutting the planets in half. Bela nods and Charlie smiles, “Did you remember to tape areas we’re going to attach the planets to?”

“I did—why did we have to put the tape down?” Bela said poking over where she had painted over the scotch-blue tape. She had spent all day working on this project asking Charlie a million questions, and now all they had to do was wait for the board to finish drying so they could finish the project. She was still slightly miffed that Charlie wouldn’t let her use the portable table saw that she had brought from her truck. Just like she was slightly upset that Charlie had handed her a mask to wear and made her stand at a distance while she used it.

“Well because we’re going to glue it on, and the wood glue that I got works well when it’s wood on wood. We want this to stick so we only have to do it once,” Charlie explained as she laid out the planets that she had cut in half, pulling off the mask on her face. She ran her hand over Mars, “I like the fact that you rolled it around in red sand to get that finish,” Charlie said and Bela grinned.

“You said the details were important,” Bela said proudly and then looks at the black board. “This going to be _awesome_! It’s already better than Callie’s and I did it all by myself! Well mostly.” Bela grinned she was going to get an A for sure.

Charlie moves to start washing her hands and bites her lip, “So—what’s your favorite class?”

“Math, I’m really good at it,” Bela says with a shrug.  She always got A’s in math class. Bela poked the black board, but the paint was still wet.

A small smile appeared on Charlie’s face she had liked math as well growing up. She had been really good with it as well, she still was. She wracked her brain for another question to ask Bela so she could get to know her daughter. “Do you like Justin Bieber? He’s quite popular I think,” Charlie said. When Bela didn’t respond right away she turned and noticed the look her daughter was giving her.

Bela stared at Charlie, only to realize that she was being serious. “No, of course _not_!” Bela said shaking her head and looking at Charlie who looked slightly embarrassed. “He’s totally lame!” Bela studied Charlie for a long moment. “Okay my turn. How old are you?”

“I just turned thirty-five,” Charlie answers watching as Bela makes a face. “What?”

“You’re _old!”_ Bela says dramatically giggling when Charlie tries to give her a stern look. “What you are! You’re older than my mom and she’s like really old.”

Charlie rolls her eyes, “Your mom is like fine wine she only gets more beautiful as she ages,” Charlie said crossing her arms over her chest and flicking some water at Bela.

Bela stared at Charlie and crinkled her nose a bit, “You’re _really_ weird Charlie,” Bela smiled, Charlie still thought her mom was beautiful even though she was old. This was going _extremely_ well, now she needed to know how her mom felt about Charlie. Aunt Brittany had said that attraction was key to a good relationship. Like magnets.

“Well, if you don’t like Justin Bieber what do you like to do? Or listen to?” Charlie asks after a moment, rubbing her wrist. Her daughter thought she was weird, she wasn’t quite sure that was right. She frowned, but she had always thought her parents were—off. So maybe it was a good sign.

“I also like to write,” Bela studied Charlie for a moment. “In _fact_ , I want to tell you about operation Praying Mantis since you’re the—”

There was a firm knock on the door and Charlie held up her hand to stop Bela from rushing to go get it, “I’ll get it,” Charlie said moving to the door and checking the peephole. She relaxes when she sees it’s just Santana and opens the door for her. Charlie immediately holds her arm out for her, because she looks rather green. “You okay?”

Santana waves off the question, she feels like shit. Like she normally does, this isn’t something that’s new for her. So instead of focusing on it she forces a smile to her lips. “How did it go today?” Santana asked as she entered the apartment leaning against the wall for support. She stared at the various paints and the massive black board that was being dried by a lamp. She flicked her eyes to the portable saw and then turned to Bela who was wearing a baggy shirt and was covered in paint. “What. Did. You. Do?”  Santana demands turning to Charlie.

“Nothing! We just worked on the project. Don’t worry I didn’t let her anywhere near the saw,” Charlie said, holding her hands up. “I did all that, she wanted to beat—”

“We worked _really_ hard on this mom! I really wanted to beat Callie and Charlie made me do all the painting and she didn’t let me touch the saw—or the nail gun. We didn’t _need_ the nail gun. But we wanted to make this project really good so I could get an A and you’d be super proud.” Bela interrupted. “Isn’t it _awesome_?” Bela said moving to the black board. “We plotted out where the planets were positioned to the sun and it might not move but it’s going to be super cool once we glue all the pieces together and trace out the lines. Charlie gave me painting advice _and_ she let me use her stuff!”

Charlie rubbed the back of her neck and looked at Santana, “I’m sorry I got carried away,” she adds after a moment.

Science had never been Bela’s favorite subject and to see her so enthusiastic about doing her project and doing a good job was a surprise. A pleasant surprise and as long as Charlie had been responsible and hadn’t thought that it was a brilliant idea to let Bela near a saw, she was okay with this, mostly okay with it. “So—how are you going to get this into the car?” Santana asked and looked at both Charlie and Bela. The board was massive and it was probably too big for Bela to carry on her own, and with the current state of her body there was no way that she was going to carry it. She watched as Bela and Charlie looked at each other, and she sighed they were so alike it was nearly comical.

“Well, you can leave the board here to dry and take all the other pieces home and I’ll swing by the house tomorrow and we can finish it?” Charlie offers. The house was safe for them to move back in now, all that was left for her to do was paint the areas that had been damaged according to Puck, and she was going to do that room by room. “If that’s okay with you Santana?”

“Please mom?” Bela said looking at Santana who rolled her eyes. “ _Please_!”

Santana glanced at Charlie for a moment and then looked at her daughter before letting out a lofty sigh.  “Alright. You can come over tomorrow and help finish that. But Charlie—next time let’s try to make it a bit manageable. You can’t make these gigantic projects all the time just because you can. As it is I think her teacher is going to accuse me of doing the project for her.”

Charlie grins widely at this. There was going to be a next time. She had fun, today had been fun. Even if Bela thought she was an old weirdo, she wanted to do it again. “We’ll keep it on budget next time I promise.” Charlie vowed.

Santana nodded and turned to look at the planets that her daughter had painted, they did really look well done, and they seemed to have a brightness to them. She flicked her eyes to Charlie, who immediately began to help her daughter put the planets away, keeping them separated so that they wouldn’t really make a mess. The pit in her stomach was gone and she relaxed this could be something that they did. Shared custody, getting Charlie to help out when she could. It was a relief that it had gone so well.  She moved to stand beside Charlie and nudged the contractor’s hand gently with her pinking, causing the taller woman to turn and look at her. She rested the finger against Charlie’s pinky, a move that was made to comfort Charlie. “See, I told you it wouldn’t be so bad.” Santana muttered to Charlie. “She doesn’t bite—well not anymore.”

“I’m _ten_ mom!” Bela said with a huff.

“She had a biting problem when she was three years old. She was a terror at daycare. Until one day when another kid bit her back. She never bit anyone else again,” Santana informed Charlie who turns to grin at Bela who doesn’t seem pleased that she was sharing the story with Charlie.

 


	13. Chapter 13

Charlie grabbed the black board to bring over to Santana’s, maybe after they were finished she could start painting the rooms that needed to be painted. She had managed to save about five thousand dollars, which she could put into fixing Santana’s basement, plus she had paid Frannie back for the help. This had mostly been a good week, she didn’t quite know how to deal with the news of Santana’s condition but she had spent most of her free time googling it, so she could support her however she needed. Santana had just come back into her life, she couldn’t just lose her like that again.

She forces the dark thoughts out of her head for now, she didn’t want to think of Santana dying. She was Santana—she had always been strong, if anything was going to beat this thing into submission it was her. She just had to have a bit of faith. Charlie pauses for a moment adjusting the heavy board under her arm, she had taken off the scotch blue tape the night before so all they would need to do was attach the planets and Bela could fill out the rest of the project with labels and small fact cards that she promised that she would do tonight. It would be fun—today was going to be a _good day_.

Charlie opened the door to her apartment and the smile on her face faded as she noticed her father standing there about to knock on the door. She took a step back, she had spoken to soon, and she didn’t have this many good days in a row. After Quinn had given her the money that she had requested she had hoped that her father wasn’t going to show up anytime soon. That he was simply ignoring her existence like he usually did unless he needed something from her. He hadn’t shown up, he hadn’t called and she thought that he had been satisfied. Clearly she was wrong. “Dad.”

Russell didn’t wait to be let inside, he just eyed his daughter noting the black board in her arms and then walked past her. “I _noticed_ that you had taken quite a bit of money out of your trust. Quinn showed me the paperwork and I called myself to make sure that you passed.” Russell said looking at the mess that was currently Charlie’s kitchen and crinkling his nose. “I also know that recently your mother paid you to build that gazebo, and she paid you nearly two thousand dollars. So the question is what type of trouble are you into now? Or is this some get rich quick scheme?”

Charlie adjusted the board in her arm for a moment, she had to get on the road but the way her dad was settling in on her, meant that there was a huge lecture coming her way. “It’s not a scheme. There is no gambling debt, even if Quinn thinks there is.” Charlie adjusts the board in her arms, Santana was right how was Bela going to get this to school. “This isn’t going to become a habit, I just needed an infusion of cash right away so I could complete a project. A project which I’m working on right now, and I’m going to be late.”

“ _Charlie_.” Russell said causing Charlie to pause for a moment and turn to him. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you, so I expect some details.”

Charlie studied her father for a moment, He wouldn’t believe anything she said anyway. “On my birthday, I found out that I was the mother of a ten year old girl, who asked me to drive her back to Philly. I spent the money on fixing up her other mother’s house, after her pipes burst and that’s where I need to be right now.”  Charlie said in a deadpan manner, keeping her eyes on Russell who simply stared at her.

Russell slowly got up and straightened out his suit. “If you aren’t going to be honest with me Charlie, then I don’t see how there is _any_ hope for you. Especially since you’re so hell-bent on ruining your life. Yes you may think I’m the cruel man that cut you off and refused to help, but everything I have done has been to protect you and to make sure that you live. I don’t want to bury one of my children, but I have done everything I can to help you and some people—just don’t want to be helped.”

Charlie shifted uncomfortably, “There’s a difference between hitting rock bottom and being shoved there. You got me fired—and made sure I couldn’t work,” there isn’t anger in her voice she wasn’t angry. She didn’t really feel anything when it came to her father. They had been close once, and now she was just a disappointment. “Look, I’m sorry to have disappointed you again, but I really do have a job to get to.”

“What disappoints me is that you’re not even trying anymore. You’re breaking your mother’s heart and making her worry all the time. She has to get in touch with you through Quinn. Quinn who has stood by your side for ten years. She’s been a good sister to you and this is how you repay her?” Russell said shaking his head.

Charlie frowned, she didn’t like being compared to Quinn. She bites her inner lip, not caring that she’s drawn a bit of blood and sighs. “I’m going to be late—you made it clear that I wasn’t welcome. That I haven’t been welcome and I don’t want to fight. If my presence bothers you, if seeing me disappoints you then I’m sorry. I won’t touch the trust again.” Charlie said after a moment. “I actually do have to go dad, I’m already going to be late and I have a full day ahead of me.”

Russell shakes his head, he’s done his duties as a father and there is nothing more that he can do if Charlie doesn’t want his help. Maybe in the future she would finally understand he did what he had to for her own good. If she ever had children of her own, then she would know how difficult it was to make the right decision.

* * *

 

Santana didn’t exactly know what to make of Bela following Charlie around like a lost puppy, eager for Charlie’s approval. It bothered her to some extent, that Bela already adored Charlie, especially since Charlie had been nearly half an hour late. For a moment Bela thought that Charlie wasn’t actually going to come, and seeing that disappointment on Bela’s face had tugged harshly on her heart strings. It was part of her greatest worry, that Charlie would ultimately disappoint Bela in some way and that eternal optimism that Bela had would be crushed. A part of her knew that it was only half an hour and Charlie did need to cross state lines. It’s not like she lived next door and hadn’t shown up. Maybe it had been her own fears, Charlie hadn’t been the most reliable person towards the end of their relationship, and she would be damned if Charlie let that happen here.

But as she watched Charlie talking to Bela, who was now gladly helping her paint the house as Charlie explained what they were doing and why, she was actually surprised at how Charlie was taking to it. There was a small pang of guilt that coursed through her. Ten years, if Charlie had been clean for ten years then this would have been normal. She had cut off contact with Charlie—but it wasn’t as if Charlie didn’t have ways to reach out to her. Maybe she should have checked in on her earlier. The situation was complicated but she had created a consistency with Bela, things were stable and she hadn’t wanted to wreck that.  But now—

“Charlie can mom paint with us to?” Bela asked, this weekend had been fun but she couldn’t forget about Operation Praying Mantis.”

Charlie flicked her eyes over to Santana who had been sitting on the couch, going in and out of sleep for most of the afternoon. “Well if she wants to?” Charlie said, hoping that it was enough to give Santana an out.

Santana adjusted on the couch pulling the blanket up, “That’s okay Bela. I’m perfectly fine on the couch. If you two want to play in paint then go ahead,” Santana said causing Bela to huff.

Charlie nods and rests a hand on Bela’s shoulder. “Why don’t we go find something to paint and you can tell me about this operation Praying Mantis?” Charlie offers and she is rewarded with a huge grin from Bela. “That’s a weird operation name by the way, you know once the female Praying Mantis is finished mating, she bites the head off her mate.”  Charlie said informatively. She watched a lot of the Discovery Channel, when she couldn’t sleep.

Bela smirked and glanced at her mom. “I know.”

Santana frowned at the look and studied her daughter for a moment and then looked at Charlie. She would _kill_ Bela if she tried to parent trap her. She’s about to say something when the doorbell rings. She sighs and slowly gets up, feeling the ache in her joints. “I’ll get it,” she says and moves to answer the door. Her body feels like lead and she was glad that her anti-nausea pills were working barely as she moves to the door. She can see Charlie hovering in the corner of her eye but ignores her as she opens the door. “Dani.” Santana said flatly. “What are you doing here?”

Dani put on a smile, trying to ignore her growing jealousy at the beat up old truck outside. She had been seeing that truck a lot lately. “Look, Santana I know things are weird between us, but you said we were still friends,” Dani offers holding her hands up as Santana studies her. “And we haven’t hung out in a while—look what I said the last time—it wasn’t right and I’m sorry. I just—miss you. We had some good times right?”

Santana sighed inwardly, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t had fun with Dani, the beginning of their relationship had been fun. “We did,” she says after a moment reluctantly, watching as Dani lights up. “But it just wasn’t meant to be. Look Dani, I did say that we could be friends but I’ve got a lot going on in my life lately. My house just got flooded and I’m having construction done. So this just _isn’t_ the time.”

“You know I’m pretty handy around the house Santana, why didn’t you just call me if you were having trouble?” Dani offers.

“Because you’re a cop, not a plumber or a contractor?” Santana points out bluntly. “Look you don’t need to worry about it Charlie is taking care of it.” Santana said with a shrug. “She’s a contractor, a good one and as far I can see she got the work done quickly, and is now working on just fixing up some of the damage.”

Dani frowned, “Look I get it, but let’s face facts Santana. You’re letting a drug addict—or maybe even a dealer into your home. Think about that for a moment. I get it she’s Bela’s other mother but you’re just asking for trouble. I don’t want to see Bela get hurt—I don’t want to see you get hurt for that matter. “

Santana shook her head, “I’ll deal with it. If it comes to that, I’ll deal with it. If Charlie gets a record, or she does something that makes me think that even for a second that Bela is in any danger and Charlie is a terrible influence I will handle it then. So will you just leave it alone? I’m an adult, I know how to handle my shit and I don’t need you _attempting_ to protect me.” Santana closed her eyes, feeling a wave of dizziness and exhaled. “Goodbye Dani. I’m going to make sure that my daughter isn’t plotting against me.” Santana closed the door in Dani’s face. Well that was one problem solved, now how to deal with Bela. She needed to call Brittany and find out what she knew about this Operation Praying Mantis and then have her put a stop to it.

She shakes it off when she hears Bela’s laughter fill the air, and she makes her way up the steps and follows the noise till she finds both Charlie and Bela in Bela’s bathroom.  She glances at Charlie who is trying to wash a huge paint stain off the front of her shirt while Bela laughs. She watches quietly for a moment just enjoying it. Charlie had a delighted look on her face and that familiar feeling of guilt is back, but she doesn’t regret anything. She can’t, there is nothing that can be done and what she did was for Bela’s benefit.

Bela turns and looks at her mother for a moment and smiles widely at her, “Please mom, you have to join us. Charlie spilled paint all over herself!”

“You smacked me with the paint roller!” Charlie snaps playfully at Bela nudging her with her hips causing Bela to laugh even louder. Charlie glances at Santana for a moment and bites her lip seeing that she’s up and holds the paint roller out for her. “It’s really easy. We’re just laying down the primer, then we’re going to paint the trim and then we’re just going to paint the walls again.” Charlie explains.

Santana eyes the roller that is covered in white paint and flicks her attention to Charlie and then to Bela who is giving her that damn look. The one that Brittany taught her to get her way, Brittany was a horrible influence on Bela. “Alright but if either of you hit me with any damn paint I’m going to end you.” Santana said giving them a withering look. She takes the roller from Charlie who smiles and motions to the spot that they were supposed to be painting.

Bela grins widely, Operation Praying Mantis was already going better than she expected. She doesn’t even try to hide it when Charlie moves closer to her mom and helps her paint. So Charlie wasn’t completely hopeless and she didn’t need to coach her on how to win her mom over. Now it just needed time, and she had to be super discreet about this, or her mom would totally figure it out and ground her _forever_.  With a small smile she moves and begins to help her mom and Charlie put the primer on the walls.

* * *

 

Charlie smiles as she hits her blinker and switches lanes, today had been a good day. Even if it was a bit touch and go from the start. She had helped Bela finish her project, she had spent some time with Santana who wasn’t going to kill her and was going to let her have more time with Bela. She hadn’t gotten much work done all together but—it had been fun. She hadn’t had fun in a while. Not like this. After she had gotten out of rehab, it was like the world had lost just a bit of its vibrancy. Bela liked her, Santana was at least tolerating her existence. Life was good. She hums to herself as she sees a flash or red white and blue lights and hears a police siren behind her and she frowns adjusting her rear view mirror, she hadn’t been speeding. Maybe she had a busted taillight or something, as she pulls over to the side of the highway and rolls down her window and turns down her music reaching for her wallet and opening the glove compartment so she can get her insurance out. “What seems to be the problem officer?”

“I’m going to need you to step out of the car,” he said flashing a light into the car, and into Charlie’s eyes causing her to immediately shield her eyes. It caused him to frown and he reached into the car window and grabbed her as if he was trying to pull her out of the truck through the window.

Charlie, blinked trying to clear the bright purple spots that were in her vision. “I’ll step out of the car,” she said not trying to resist. She manages to get her door open and slides out of the car when the police releases her and she’s immediately grabbed and slammed against her truck door, the impact winding her. “Look—I don’t know what this is about—” Charlie began grimacing in pain.

“ _Shut-up!_ Stop resisting! _”_ He shouts at her as he radios for backup.

The reward for opening her mouth is her getting lifted up and slammed face first into the ground. Stars explode in her vision and she feels a warm sticky feeling around her chin as she immediately begins to squirm as something heavy is placed on the middle of her back and her arms are wrenched back, harshly and she feels a sharp pain in her shoulder. She’s hauled up by the cop, and notices that there is a pool of blood where her face had been. “Why am I being arrested?” She manages to get out wincing as she is lead to the police car where her head slams against the door frame as he helps her into the car.

Charlie groaned as she watched as back up arrived, she didn’t even know what was going on as they begin to tear apart her truck, sending her equipment to the ground and she hears it break. Suddenly one of the cops opens the passenger seat and quickly pulls back with a small bag of pills and he waves it around. Charlie stares at the officer as he waves it around and realizes that she’s just been set up, and her good day had taken a terrible turn for the worse. She was never going to see her daughter again—no one was going to believe her. Even though she didn’t _do_ pills.

 


	14. Chapter 14

Charlie sighed as she was forced into a chair by one of the police officers. She didn’t struggle, she didn’t say anything. Every single time that she said something she was rewarded with getting slammed against the ground or a wall. She had called Frannie last night and left a message when she hadn’t picked up before she had been dragged back to the holding cells. She was tired, hungry, and trying not to think about how Santana was never going to let her near Bela again. She had promised to call Bela when she got home, and that hadn’t happened. Santana was also going to be furious about that—things were going well.

Charlie closed her eyes. No one was going to believe her, this was nothing new. It didn’t matter if she had never had a prescription drug problem. She had just been addicted to cocaine. But she doubted anyone was going to check into that. She was a drug addict who had a drug problem, it was probably all the same to them. She didn’t care that if her family didn’t believe her, she was used to them not believing her—but she didn’t want to disappoint Bela, and that’s where this was going. It had been nice while it lasted, being some knight in shining armor for once.  She pulled on the cuffs around her wrists, and winced, her wrists were bruised. They hadn’t been gentle in cuffing her, her shoulder and collarbone hurt like a bitch.

The door to the interrogation room opens and Charlie looks up to see Dani’s smug face looking at her. “It’s my job to get scum like you off the streets. You had enough pills on you that we are working up to charging you with possession with intent to distribute.” Dani smirked at Charlie. “The prosecutor is going to come down _hard_ on you. We looked into your financials, large sums of money going into your account and leaving it. We _have_ you.”

Charlie stared at Dani, all of this suddenly made sense to her now. It had been Dani that had ruined her life. What was she going to do, say that Dani had set her up? It was common knowledge that she _did_ have a drug problem. She didn’t want to go to prison, she didn’t want Bela to visit her in prison. “Lawyer.” Charlie said hoping that Frannie would come bail her out.

“You know what your court appointed lawyer is going to say? Take the deal before it goes to trial,” Dani said pushing a paper in front of her. “Just admit it, the judge will probably take it easy on you. Who knows you might get to see your daughter before she graduates—well if Santana lets you.”

The door to the interrogation room opened and Frannie walked in and glanced at the notepad in front of Charlie who looked positively relieved to see her. “Charlie, I know you’re an idiot, but please tell me that you didn’t say anything.”

“I asked for a lawyer? And I asked why I was stopped—but they didn’t tell me anything. They searched my car, but they didn’t Mirandize me till I got to the station.” Charlie explained quickly looking at Frannie. “Frannie I didn’t—”

“Shut-up. I had to take _public transportation to get here_. I don’t want to hear it.” Frannie snaps at her sister causing her to shut her mouth. Frannie turned to Dani and narrowed her eyes. “You heard her she asked for counsel, so you’re going to leave the room, and I’m going to talk with my client, and I’m going to pretend that you didn’t try and force a confession out of her even though she asked for a lawyer.” Frannie eyed her youngest sister noticing the state she was in. “Actually scratch that, I’m going to add that to the lawsuit that I’m already envisioning in my head for the excessive use of force. Now get your ass out of here.” Frannie said dismissively.

Dani stared at Frannie for a moment before getting up and shooting Charlie a hateful look. “We found the drugs in her car.” Dani snapped at Frannie who didn’t seem to back down. She sneered before storming out of the room.

Frannie waits for a moment before turning to look at Charlie, who was staring at the table. “You can speak now. How did this happen?”

Charlie opened her mouth and closed it, “The drugs aren’t mine. I was just driving home and I got stopped. I got my license and registration out and then the next thing I know I’m being dragged out of the car. He tells me to stop resisting, and I do but he keeps repeating it. Next thing I know I’m being hauled into the car and then there are a bunch of police officers and then they’re waving a bag of pills. I’m being set up Frannie. Dani used to date Santana and they broke up. I didn’t do it.”

“Are you sure?” Frannie asked crossing her arms.

Charlie sighs. “Look I don’t know what I have to do to make you believe me,” Charlie admits.

Frannie shrugged, it didn’t really matter if they were Charlie’s or not. She just wanted the truth. “I need you to be straight with me. It’s not yours?”

“No, it’s not.” Charlie admits. “I never had a pill problem Frannie. I had a coke problem.”

Frannie paused for a moment, Charlie had a point. She knew it was cocaine and it’s not like Charlie actually needed the money. She was rich, even if she insisted on living like the normal folks. She still had her trust fund even if it was a pain to get money from it. She wouldn’t _need_ to sell drugs. “I believe you.”

Charlie blinked and looked at Frannie, “You do?”

“I do, now tell me more about this Dani person? You said she was dating Santana?”

“Yeah she was, they broke up though. She’s showed up a few times and I know she doesn’t want me around. But Santana was allowing me to spend time with Bela. We worked on her project together—and I was supposed to call last night but I didn’t want to call her from jail. Santana’s not going to let me see her after this Frannie, I just—”

“One thing at a time.” Frannie said holding up her hands, “Look, I’m going to make sure that you get out of this and then I’m going to roast this department alive, and probably have all their badges by this afternoon.” Frannie said. If only because they had made her take public transportation. Next time she was sending one of her associates.  “Was she there last night? Think back.”

“No. She wasn’t.” Charlie says immediately. “I didn’t recognize anyone there. I didn’t recognize the cop, and I was polite. I mean he shined a light in my eyes and I just covered my eyes and the next thing I know he’s trying to pull me out of my window. He didn’t even tell me why I was stopped. I just thought I had a busted taillight or I forgot to change my tags.”

“I see, well let’s rip this Dani person a new one shall we?” Frannie said simply. Someone was going to have to pay for this trip and it might as well be the police department.

* * *

 

To say that Santana was furious would be putting it mildly. She was positively _incensed._ How difficult was it to simply call your daughter when you got home? She had let Bela stay up just so she could get the call, only to find her asleep this morning. Charlie couldn’t just not show up, this was not something that she had the right to do. She had called Charlie at least five times this morning to let her know how irritated she was at her but it had gone straight to voicemail. It was simply unacceptable, and she wasn’t even sure if Charlie was going to come tonight like she had promised. Maybe she should just get another contractor and have them take care of the house.

She felt like an idiot, for putting her trust in Charlie. This was how it started, and the worst part was that Bela adored her. She had thought that Charlie cared enough about Bela that this wouldn’t be a problem, but she had made those vows before. She had been in Bela’s shoes before, trusting every word that came from Charlie’s mouth. Bela was going to stop being so damn optimistic, she was going to lose her imagination and become cold and cynical. She was ten. She was too young to be a cynic.  Fucking Fabrays. The worse part about it was that yesterday had felt nice, it was about the only decent thing about her day next to the nausea and the dizziness and the eternal exhaustion. That was hurt the most, that was why it stung so badly to see her doing this again. Bela had texted her quite a bit during the break to ask if she had heard from Charlie.

She was about to try Charlie again when her cellphone rang. She picked it up hoping that it was Charlie. Her ex-girlfriend had better have the best fucking excuse in the world. “Charlie?”

“No, it’s Quinn,” Quinn corrected leaning against the wall of her apartment. She had gotten the call from Frannie early this morning and it was the last time that she had heard from Frannie. Rachel had insisted that _someone_ needed to tell Santana, in case she was worried and she had promised her that she would. But she hadn’t heard from Frannie for most of the day and she was starting to get worried herself.

Santana frowned at her tone, it didn’t sound good. “What happened? Where is she?” If Charlie had been in some sort of accident, then she forgave her. She’d have to tell Bela, and that wouldn’t be good.

“Look, I want to be straight with you. We were right not to trust her, she got arrested for possession with the intent to sell. I know it’s going to be difficult to talk to Bela about it, but Frannie’s cleaning up her mess right now. I just called to let you know that she was caught with some pills.”

Santana frowned at this, Charlie caught with pills? “What type of pills? And where the hell was she arrested?” Santana demanded, feeling a headache coming on. She could already see where this was going and if it was she thought it was. She was going to kill Dani, and she’d have to apologize to Charlie for dragging her into this mess. She didn’t deserve this.

“Look I don’t know the details yet. Frannie would have more news for me later. But I think it was ecstasy. It was possession with intent to distribute. All I know is she’s in Philadelphia.” Quinn sighed. She had made it clear to Rachel that Charlie wasn’t allowed to spend time with Beth anymore. Even though Rachel had insisted that they hear Charlie’s side first. As far as she knew her mother was already heading down and dragging their father along with her. This whole thing was going to get ugly fast.

“Since when did Charlie start enjoying EDM concerts?” Santana asked sarcastically. She was _going_ to murder Dani Harper. Setting Charlie up, this was going to spiral quickly out of control and she simply didn’t have the energy to take Bela to visit Charlie in prison, especially since she didn’t do anything.

“Look Santana, I know you’re upset with her. Hell I’m pissed at her for you—but you can’t murder her. I’ll take care of it, so you don’t have to worry—Bela’s safety comes first.” Quinn said sighing. She had been sort of happy that Charlie was getting better and was making strides. Even if she _didn’t_ know,

Santana rolled her eyes. “Why the hell would I murder Charlie? She didn’t do anything, Charlie was a cocaine addict and as far as I know she never sold drugs, she just took them. She especially didn’t something as _stupid_ and juvenile as ecstasy. Let alone prescription drugs.” Quinn didn’t respond and Santana paused for a moment. “Wait—you _believed_ that Charlie was out selling drugs? I thought you said you knew Charlie better than anyone.”

“I do—it’s just she’s been weird as hell lately! And she won’t tell me what’s up. She passes a drug test so she can get money from her trust fund and she won’t tell me what she’s spending the money on. Then I find out she’s gone to Frannie behind my back and is talking to her. I don’t know _what_ to believe anymore. I talked to my dad who said she was in a rush the other day—I thought she was in trouble because she had some gambling debts or something,” Quinn replied defensively.

“Look, it’s so not my job to tell you about Charlie’s business. But just so we’re clear, you’re a bitch and I have to go pick up my daughter and then go to the police station and go and rip into my ex-girlfriend that clearly framed _your_ sister.” Santana said shaking her head and ending the call. Damn Fabrays always had to make her life difficult. She wasn’t going to touch that family mess with a ten foot pole, but she did need to go apologize to Charlie. Even if she hadn’t done anything wrong, she still felt slightly responsible for Dani’s actions.

* * *

 

“I _knew_ Dani was a villain mom! I _told_ you.” Bela said following her mother a pleased smile on her face. “Now we have to save Charlie! This is _perfect_.” Bela said in an excited tone. Stories where the knight saved the princess were _old_ , the princess should save the knight and the knight should save the princess. They should save each other. Besides her mom was too much of a badass to ever just be the damsel in distress but Charlie had needed an in and it was the easiest way.

“We’ve _talked_ about this Bela. People aren’t just good and evil. Dani did something _terrible_ and mean to Charlie—that doesn’t mean that she’s an evil person.” Santana said even if she really didn’t believe it. Fucking with someone’s life and their livelihood because you were a jealous bitch was absolutely evil. “That being said, Dani needs to learn that she can’t fuck with our family right?”

Bela slowly grinned and reached for her mother’s hand, “Yeah, she can’t fuck with our family,” Bela said pleased that her mother saw that Charlie was part of their family. Perhaps Praying Mantis wasn’t the right operation name.

Santana eyed her daughter and shrugged, she had been a foul mouthed child and even though her mother had attempted once to wash her mouth, she didn’t really care if Bela swore. It wasn’t as if she did it often. Santana stopped at the front desk. “Where are you holding Charlie Fabray?”

“Santana! Oh thank god you’re here, look we’re going to need to hire your firm to do a major cleanup of our image. There’s this lawyer in there that’s ripping us to shred and making extensive notes and recordings which she plans to release to the press,” Captain William Schuester said relaxing. Maybe his assistant had gotten to Santana. The police chief was now on his ass to get to the bottom of this because the mayor had been on her ass. This whole thing was a mess.

“Let me guess Frannie Fabray?” Will nodded his head and Santana closed her eyes. “Well, I guess one of the Fabrays can do their job properly. Look William—I’d say I would love to help you but that’d be a lie. Charlie Fabray is Bela’s mother and I _told_ Dani not to engage. You want to blame someone, blame Dani for this. She did this, so the easiest thing to do right now, is number one give into Frannie’s demands because you don’t want this going before a judge. Frannie will eviscerate this department’s budget for the next five years and you’ll be bounced back to doing traffic stops for the rest of your life if any judge hears this case. Also when you’re writing the settlement check because you want to keep Frannie quiet, I suggest you add a few more zeros at the end of it.” Santana said bluntly, “Now can you point me in the direction of where you’re holding Charlie?” She smiled at Will and followed him as he led her to the interrogation room.

“I thought cops were there to protect and serve,” Bela said speaking up. “Dani told me that they were the good guys,” Bela said accusingly to Will who looked at her. “You’re not supposed to do this.”

Will frowned a bit and scratched his head and glanced at Santana who didn’t look like she was in a rush to correct her daughter. “Look—little girl, you just don’t understand—”

Santana ignored him, she couldn’t be bothered to correct his idiocy today as they finally came upon the interrogation room, which opened as they approached and Dani stumbled out looking rather—haunted. Santana straightened herself up and marched towards her, “What the _fuck_ did you do Dani Harper?” She demanded.

Dani grimaced and looked at her and then Bela who had a gigantic grin on her face. “Look Santana—maybe we shouldn’t do this here—you know in front of your daughter,” Dani said quickly holding her hands out, to try and placate Santana.

Santana blinked, “Are you fucking serious? I _protected_ my daughter, she didn’t know about Charlie’s drug problem until _you_ brought it up in front of her. You’re the _asshole_ , who tried to be the moral authority in _my_ life. I don’t want to hear your excuses, I told you to leave her alone.”

“ _I wasn’t_ there! They found pills in her car Santana—I’m _just_ trying to protect you and Bela!”

“ _You planted_ the pills in her car, you called your little cop buddies told them that what? How exactly did you think this was going to go? I was going to what? Fall madly in love with you? Get back together with you? Bela _doesn’t_ like you, you don’t even really like her. Why in the world would I think that _forcing_ this relationship to work would be a good idea? And even if that wasn’t the case, you think this doesn’t smell like shit? You come to my house and try and spew some bullshit about how you want to be friends, while Charlie’s helping me with my house and then you find pills in her truck.”

“I—” Dani began going a deep red.

“Dani—for the love of god, please don’t say a word until your union rep shows up,” Will said immediately coming to her aid. Will turned to Santana, “Look—if we apologize do you think that the reaming that we did won’t be bad?” Will asked not noticing that the door had been opened and Frannie had been watching the events and the verbal smack down that Santana had put on Dani.

“Of course not. I had to come down to Philadelphia.” Frannie said causing everyone to look at her and tilted her head back into the room and eyes Charlie who is still sitting there. “That was hot by the way. You do have better taste than I thought.”

Bela moved quickly before Santana could stop her into the interrogation room brushing by Frannie who immediately recoiled at being touched by a child. “Charlie! I got an A—did they beat you up?”  

Charlie blinked and stood up only for her to remember that she was still cuffed to the table. She ignored it and smiled at Bela. “I’m sorry I didn’t call last night—don’t worry about me. But you got an A that’s really cool!” Charlie said pulling on the cuffs again.

Bela wasn’t having any of it, as she turned around and stormed out furious, ignoring Frannie who watched slightly amused as she looked at Will and Dani. “Why’d you beat up _my Charlie_ ,” she snapped at Dani.

Santana blinked and turned to Dani again, “You know, you keep going on about how I needed to protect Bela from Charlie, but from where I stand Dani—the only criminal here is you.” Santana said simply, wondering what she had ever seen in Dani. “Now, I have to go apologize to the mother of my child for not handling my business properly.”

“Mother of your child?” Russell asked his mouth dropping.

Frannie flicked her eyes to her parents and groaned as her parents stood there with a dumbfounded look on their face. She hadn’t wanted to be in the epicenter of this cluster fuck of a situation. She turned to Will. “What are you waiting for, she’s not a criminal, and yet she’s still chained like an animal.”

William immediately moved into the interrogation room and sighed, wondering why he was taking care of it. He was the captain of the division, perhaps not for much longer, but he had people who should be doing this. “You’re free to go,” Will said and Charlie pushed past him and left the room and immediately went to stand by Santana.

“Santana—I’m sorry. I didn’t—I swear I’m not on pills or selling them.” Charlie says immediately. She needed Santana to believe her, it was all she could think of.  “Please don’t stop letting me see Bela.”

Santana glances at Russell and Judy for a moment and her daughter and reaches for her pulling her close. This situation was not going as planned. Of course they would show up now of course they would find out today. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I know that, so you don’t have to worry. I’m not going to stop you from seeing her or talking to her.” Santana promised. “Your parents on the other hand,” Santana said dropping her voice so only Charlie could hear her.

Charlie turned and looked at her parents surprised that they were even there, though she shouldn’t be surprised. She caught her dad’s eye, there was still disbelief written on his features. She wasn’t sure if it was because he had found out that he had another grandchild or—because she was telling the truth. She didn’t really care though. “I don’t know where they took my truck and they smashed some of my stuff. I’m probably not going to get that back in working order am I?”

“Probably not,” Santana agrees realizing what Charlie was doing, “Do you need a ride to get it?” Santana flicks her eyes.

“I yeah—I also need my wallet and stuff, and my phone. I didn’t want to call while in jail—otherwise I would have called the moment I got home.”

“It’s okay Charlie, I’m not upset,” Bela says and tugs on her arm. “Why are those people staring at me?”

Russell finally found his words, “I’m—” he begins wondering how Charlie had managed to hide this from him.

“The person who never believed me,” Charlie says interrupting him and immediately slaps a smile on her face. “How about I buy you some ice cream, for getting an A. I told you that we could get one. If that’s okay with your mom.”

Santana flicked her eyes to Charlie’s parents for a moment and then shrugged, “Sure let’s get your stuff and grab your truck and you can spend some time with Charlie.”

Charlie smiles and is about to say something when she remembers that Frannie’s still around. “Thank you Frannie.”

“So we’re clear, I’m still suing on your behalf. I need to make up this day, expect a settlement check soon.  I’ll be taking a third of it though.” Frannie said dismissively. Maybe she could get a ride back into the city with her parents. She glanced at them, her father looked like he was going to have a coronary. Oh well.

 


	15. Chapter 15

It was nearing midnight before Santana finally decided that enough was enough and made up her mind to confront Charlie in the basement. Charlie hadn’t said much about what had happened to her, but this was getting ridiculous, she was exhausted and while she was fine with Charlie staying on the couch or something. She was not okay with hearing the sound of construction going on in her own house until nearly midnight. Charlie was lucky that Bela slept like the dead.

She grimaced as she finally got down the steps of her basement, immediately placing a hand on the wall to steady herself. It was a battle getting out of bed sometimes. It was certainly a battle to get out of bed, getting down to the basement after a long day was a war that sometimes it felt like she was losing. Even still she straightened herself up and moved to Charlie who had her back to her and cleared her throat causing the contractor to turn to look up at her. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing out loud. Charlie looked absolutely ridiculous with the Hello Kitty Band-Aid on her chin and cheek. “Why are you still here?”

Charlie blinked and immediately reached for her phone, the screen had a crack in in it courtesy of the police department but she could still tell what time it was and she winced. “Sorry, I just sometimes lose track of time. I’ll just pack up—and head home.” She winces at that, she can already see her father looming there, demanding answers.

“You’ve had a rough day Charlie, if you want to crash on the couch you can, but you can’t make this a habit.  Bela might get ideas and try and parent trap us. I’m pretty sure she’s been trying to, and I don’t need to confuse her.” Santana says and Charlie nods at this.

“It’s fine—the drive should do me some—” Charlie began rubbing her arm shoulder, it hurt badly but she wasn’t going to let that get to her.

Santana held her hand up, “It’ll be two am by the time you get home. And we both know that nothing good happens after two in the morning. Look truthfully I’d be more comfortable if you just stayed here for the night. The couch is pretty comfortable.”

Charlie nods after a moment and gets off her knees and offers her arm to Santana to help her back up the stairs. “I’m sorry about all this, I know you didn’t want my parents knowing about her.” Charlie said after a moment as Santana takes her arm and lets Charlie help her up the steps.

“No, I didn’t. I don’t want Bela being spoiled, I never wanted that. But I’m surprised that you didn’t tell them. Actually I’m surprised Quinn kept quiet about it.” Santana admits after a moment.

Charlie winces a bit but shrugs. “I did tell him, about her.” Santana looks at her. “He didn’t believe me, so I just left it alone.” Charlie rubs her hands slowly. “I mean I don’t blame him. I am a disappointment, and I did lie about it. I lied to him, so he’s right to not trust me.” Charlie explains to Santana.

“Oh please. You’ve been clean for ten years. And whatever you did to him, however disappointed he is with you, when we were together we both know you did worse to me. But I’ve forgiven you, and more importantly, I trust you.” Santana says firmly. “I trust you with Bela. So if he doesn’t trust you then it’s not your problem anymore. Same goes for Quinn.”

“Quinn’s just looking out for Beth, I don’t blame her either. I get why she made me stay away for as long as she did. I mean I could have relapsed or something and she didn’t want that near Beth to begin with,” Charlie admits. “Kids get into everything after all,” Charlie says defending Quinn.  

“Or Quinn just enjoys torturing you for her own sick perverted pleasure,” Santana says and Charlie looks at her. “What? Quinn’s a bitch, you know this. I know this. Nothing’s changed in ten years—well that’s not quite true.” Santana studies Charlie for a moment. “What happened to the Charlie I knew? You know the one who had no fear of telling people off?”

Charlie snorts at this and lets one of her calloused fingers run across Santana’s knuckles gently. “I fucked up. I know I did, I hurt so many people and did such shitty things. I just—if people want their pound of flesh, if people want to be wary of me—then they can be. I don’t want to be that person again. I just—after I hit the ground I thought to myself—I looked at my life. I made so many mistakes in such a little amount of time and I just—I needed to change and grow.” Charlie is quiet for a moment as they reach the top of the stairs. “I hurt you Santana. I left you with no other choice but to take our daughter and run. You raised her by yourself and I don’t understand—like I don’t understand—how?”

“How?” Santana repeats causing Charlie to meet her eyes.

“How could you forgive me? How could you ever trust me again? I betrayed you, I hurt you—I let you down again and again. You felt the brunt of it and I don’t understand how you can stand there and tell me that you forgive me, that you trust me. I just don’t.”

“I trust you with Bela, I’d be blind to ignore the fact that you’re good with her. She adores you, to her you’re the knight that lost their way and is finally back to slaying dragons.  That’s what I need you to be too her. This taking everyone’s shit because you feel guilty is getting old quickly. It’s been ten years. At some point people do need to get over it.” Santana informs Charlie. She had a daughter who looked up to her, and she was damned if she allowed Bela to think that you could let people treat you like shit because you made a mistake. “But my heart Charlie? I don’t trust anyone with that. Understand that I forgive you—but you did a number on me and I can’t forget that.”  

“Good, you shouldn’t forget,” Charlie says after taking what Santana said.

Santana eyes Charlie for a moment, “This is what I’m talking about Charlie. You deserve my crap. You don’t deserve Russell’s. You did hurt me. You did do all these things, but recent events have reminded me how short life is. I can’t stay angry at you, I can’t hate you forever, and I can’t punish you forever. It takes way too much time and energy and I’m in short supply of the latter these days.”

Charlie bites her lip, “You shouldn’t forget what I did to you. But not everyone is a cocaine addict. Once you beat this thing—and you will, you need to get out there and find someone who makes you happy and loves you and Bela. You deserve to be happy and get a happy ending.”

Santana groans, “Not you too. First Brittany, then Bela and I’m pretty sure Yentl, and now you? I was happy. I am happy with my life Charlie. I mean yeah the cancer thing is terrible and I feel like death, but I have Bela and even though she can be a little shit sometimes—she gets that from you by the way—I love her more than anything in the world. She brings me a tremendous amount of joy, about ninety-nine percent of the time.”

“Well, I know that but you should have a full life as well.” Charlie said nudging her gently.

“Pot meet the kettle. What about you? I don’t see you with a girlfriend.” Santana says, smacking Charlie’s hand gently when she moves to scratch her chin. “It’ll scar if you pick at it. Your daughter does the same thing.” Santana says.

Charlie was quiet for a moment, “I tried to date—but I didn’t want to hide my former addiction from anyone. So I tell them during the first date, so they know. Maybe I should wait until they get to know me better but most people—don’t want to be with someone who has that in their background. Then there are people who hear the name Fabray and they’re all over that—until I tell them that I’ve been disowned and I’m a contractor. Then they never call again. I just sort of stopped looking and it’s been a few years since I’ve had anyone.” Charlie admits.  

“When you say years?” Santana prodded as they headed upstairs. It was a personal question but she was curious and since Charlie’s apartment had been boring as hell, this was the next best thing.

“Um—I think around eight?” Charlie answers stopping to turn to Santana who stops moving and just stares at her. “What?”

“You know what will boost your confidence? Getting laid.” Santana says bluntly and pats Charlie on the back.

“Why, you offering?” Charlie asks and flashes Santana a smile before realizing what she said and turning a bright pink. “I’m—”

“And that’s the Charlie I remember.” Santana said poking Charlie in the side and smiling at her. “Enjoy the couch, goodnight Charlie.” Santana smiled at Charlie before opening the door to her bedroom. “Extra blankets are in the closet across from Bela’s bathroom.” Santana informs her.

“Night Santana,” Charlie said and relaxed waiting until Santana closed the door before heading to the closet to grab a blanket and making her way down to the couch.

* * *

 

Bela grinned as she finished getting ready and grabbed her bag to head downstairs. It had been forever since her mom had made pancakes on a weekday morning, and they smelled awesome, maybe she could get some bacon to. Her mom had been a bit slower getting out of bed to take her to school but she didn’t mind, it beat taking the bus to school. She heads down the stairs immediately to get the pancakes while they’re still hot, and stops and stares. Charlie is standing there making some pancakes and cutting up some fresh fruit.

Bela moves to sit at the island pulling herself onto the stool and grabbing a plate that Charlie had put out and some cutlery, and moving the maple syrup closer. “So.” Bela says as Charlie picks up the pan and flips the pancake onto her plate. “Did you have sex with my mom last night?”

Charlie drops the pan and stares at her daughter, “No!” she says stumbling back, turning a bright red.

“It’s okay Charlie I’m ten. I meant it’s gross but I sort of thought you were lame and my mom is super picky.” Bela says stuffing her face with pancake and chewing.

“I slept on the—what do you mean you thought I was lame?” Charlie said her face crinkling at the thought.

Bela stared at Charlie as she chewed. “You’re super old, and my mom is cool and so is Aunt Brittany even if she is a cat lady—but like really old adults are like super lame.” Bela informed Charlie.

“I’m not that old.” Charlie mutters under her breath. “I thought you thought I was cool.” Bela pushed her empty plate towards Charlie who had begun to make another pancake.

Santana sighed as she fixed her outfit for the day as she entered the kitchen where her daughter was being waited on by Charlie. She watches for a second as Charlie places another pancake on her plate. “What’s going on here?”

“Charlie’s making me pancakes! And telling me about how you two had sex.” Bela informs her mother.

Charlie turns a bright red when Santana’s eyes flick to her and she holds her hands out. “No! No! I didn’t say that!”

“Plus I’m telling her how lame she is,” Bela informs her mother.

“She is pretty lame.” Santana agrees with her daughter popping some fruit into her mouth and studying Charlie. “And so you’re aware, we’re not having sex. We aren’t going to have sex and stop trying to parent trap us.” Santana informs her daughter bluntly.

Bela crinkles her nose, “What’s a parent trap? I was just hoping that you would make me a baby sister.” Bela says watching in amusement as Santana begins to cough and Charlie pats her firmly on the back.

“Did you!” Santana says clearing her throat and Charlie shakes her head as Bela laughs. Santana glares at her for a moment before shrugging. “Charlie take your daughter to school.”

“Wait, I’m taking her to school?” Charlie asks and Santana shrugs her shoulders.

“Yeah and for my next project I have to build a spaceship can you help me with that this weekend?” Bela asks. “I’ll show you Callie. She got so super steamed that everyone thought my project was awesome because it glowed in the dark.”

“I have to get to a meeting this early in the morning, so thanks Charlie.” Santana said and kisses Bela on the forehead. “I’ll be there to pick you up, and if I’m not Brittany will be there.”

“Why can’t Charlie pick me up?” Bela said immediately.

“I have to go to work in the city today and I don’t think I can make it back in time Bela. I didn’t go to work yesterday and I’m worried about the damage the guys did without my supervision,” Charlie says. “But maybe I can stop by later tonight—”

“Charlie you aren’t going to use our daughter as an excuse to not go home. Take care of your shit, get your house in order and you can spend as much time with Bela as you want.” Santana interrupts. Charlie was avoiding and she’d be damned if that was going to happen under her watch. “Beside we said we weren’t going to make it a nightly thing.”

“I knew it!” Bela said with a triumphant look on her face.

Charlie flushed deeply. “We didn’t have sex.” She states immediately and nods. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“See you tomorrow, you’re going to need to behave Bela. No tricking Charlie, straight to school.” Santana said grabbing her bag and eying her daughter who nods and flashes a grin at Charlie. “I’ll talk to you later Charlie. Bela lock up when you leave.”

Bela waits until her mother leaves and waves her off before grinning at Charlie. “So can we go to an amusement park today?”

“I’m the lame parent remember—so no.” Charlie says with a huff, smiling when Bela’s smile falls off her face. She could so get the hang of this parenting thing.

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

Charlie groaned as she opened the door to her apartment, Puck had taken one look at her, gave her a questioning look and then had bluntly informed her that he’d take care of things today. She had tried to protest, but she was still tired, her shoulder and arm still hurt  and she just wanted to take it easy today. She hadn’t been to a meeting in weeks and she was going to check if there was one around that she could go to in the middle of the day.  She turned on the light and moved to her fridge to grab a near beer and popped the top taking a sip. It felt like the end of the day and she couldn’t remember the last time she took a vacation.

“I wasn’t aware that you had an alcohol problem as well.” Russell said from where he was sitting in Charlie’s apartment.

Charlie jumped dropping her beer on the ground, the bottle cracking in half and spilling the contents of her near-beer. She stared at her father wondering how he had become such a creeper. “How did you get into my apartment?” Charlie demanded immediately. She was sure she had the only key.

Russell stood up, “Well, I wasn’t going to wait outside while you avoided me, was I? You had to return home sometime.” Russell informed her not in the least bit bothered that he had just done something highly questionable.

“Pretty sure breaking and entering is illegal—and that doesn’t answer my question.” Charlie said, bending down to pick up the pieces of glass before grabbing some paper towel so she could mop up the spilt beer. “What are you doing here?”

“Being sober is important,” Russell began lecturing her. “You can’t switch one addiction for another—” Russell began.

Charlie frowned as she tossed the glass and the wet paper towel into the trash and stood up, “You don’t have the right to come in here after spending years of pretending that I don’t exist, telling me how to live my life.” Charlie interrupted. She ached and she really just wanted to go in and get some more sleep and go to a meeting. “I’m not an alcoholic, this is  near beer . It has less than 1% of alcohol in it. I haven’t had a proper beer in a decade. Not since I left rehab anyway. I’m pretty sure my mouthwash has more alcohol in it. Same with my Purell.” Charlie says.

Russell watched Charlie for a moment before, deciding to cut right to the chase. “You have a daughter,” he said bluntly.

“I’m pretty sure we’ve had a similar conversation where you called me a liar,” Charlie responds moving to get her mop to clean up. “But now that you’ve seen her, the answer is yes. I have a daughter.”

Russell nodded, “And you’re sure it’s yours?” Charlie glanced at him and raised a brow. “I understand that you might find the line of questioning offensive, but it is done. Have you done a DNA test?”

“No. I’m not going to. I realize that I don’t actually care if she’s not mine biologically, but she is. I know Santana, and if she says the kids mine, the kids mine. She doesn’t have a reason to lie to me about it, especially given the fact that she didn’t want anything to do with me for the past ten years.” Charlie responds with a shrug.

“I see, well your mother and I would like to meet our granddaughter.” Russell said. “What does she like? Judy—your mother hasn’t stopped talking about her.”

“No.” Charlie said bluntly and ran a mop over the area to make sure it wasn’t sticky. There was nothing she disliked more than sticky floors.

“What do you mean  no ? She’s our granddaughter!” Russell said scowling at Charlie. “We’d like to meet her. She’s a—”

“Lopez. Isabela is a Lopez. She’s not a Fabray,” Charlie said with a shrug. “So it’s not happening. If I have to get a restraining order, I  will .”

Russell frowned, he was not in love with the tone in Charlie’s voice. “Is that a threat? You wouldn’t  dare —”

Charlie frowned at this thinking about Bela for a moment, she didn’t really want her parents messing with the good job that Santana had done or butting into Santana’s life—or telling her how to raise their daughter. She  liked  Bela just as she was. “I don’t—think that you want to test me on this.” Charlie says after a moment.

Russell stared at his daughter who put the mop away and finally turned to face him. “What happened to the woman I raised—I don’t understand how you could hurt us like this?” Russell says crossing his arms over his chest. The day the twins had been born, was tied with the birth of Frannie and his wedding day. He may not have been around as much as he would have liked but he had  tried . He had read to her, he had gone to as many of her sports events as possible. He had  loved her. She had been the one to throw it all away.

Charlie sighed, she didn’t want to deal with this right now. “Look can you just leave? I’m not in the mood to have this conversation with you today—or ever.”

“I don’t understand what did we do to deserve this?” Russell demanded angrily. “We gave you  everything in life. The best of everything. You went to the best schools, you had a generous allowance. We gave you everything you desired—and yet  you threw it all away. You were the one who decided to ruin your life.”

Charlie studied him for a moment, “Yes—I know I screwed up. You threw me away because I made that mistake and for the past ten years I’ve been clean and trying to get my life around. I didn’t have my family to rely on, because I was—an embarrassment. I  needed you, I needed my dad to help me. I needed help and this entire family thought that the best thing for me was to treat me like a pariah. A criminal, having to demean myself to get a bit of financial help to fix up my daughter’s house. I  told you about Bela. I  told you  and you thought I was lying.  Let’s not even get into the Beth situation where you made it clear that I wasn’t a part of this family.”

“How was I supposed to know that you were telling the truth? How was I supposed to know that you needed my help?”

“Because you’re my  dad . That’s why! You got me fired, you basically blacklisted me from doing something I loved because of the optics of it all. I was an embarrassment because I  fucked up . I get it, but it didn’t matter what I did. It didn’t matter how many times I apologized, it didn’t matter how many times that I asked for forgiveness. It didn’t matter how many years I went without doing drugs. It certainly didn’t matter that I rebuilt my life from scratch without taking a penny from you to do that—you left me on my own. You decided that I wasn’t good enough for this family. So you made sure that I knew that I wasn’t welcome. Even when I showed up sober to the hospital, having been clean for a year to celebrate the fact that I had a niece you cast me out.” Charlie snapped angrily, ten years of hurt of feeling like she wasn’t good enough bubbling to the surface.

“You’re punishing me because I didn’t handle your addiction properly? Fine I made a mistake—that doesn’t mean—”

“I made a mistake. I made a mistake and for the next ten years you have punished me, you have humiliated me, and you have made me feel worthless. I don’t want Bela to ever feel those things. I don’t want her to get to a point where she thinks that no one loves her. That she is nothing more than shit on the bottom of someone’s shoes.” Charlie says throwing her hands up. She exhales trying to regain that control that she had kept on her emotions reigning them in. 

“I wanted you to become stronger and grow from this. And if you were truly clean, why didn’t you go back to your job? You could have had your life back if you just passed a drug test. You could have become a respected member of society, instead of a hired hand.” Russell pointed out.

Charlie studied her father, she liked her job. It might not make her millions of dollars, but she enjoyed her work. “You don’t think I didn’t try? But why would I want to go back to a place where the culture is one of recreational drug use? And just so you know, I like fixing houses. I like doing renovation work, I like spending time with the guys. Even though I have to stop them from doing stupid stuff all the time and goofing off, they at least know how long I’ve been clean for. They know that I go to meetings nearly every day, well not lately. That I don’t drink. They’re there for me. What’s your excuse?”  Charlie holds up her hands she doesn’t want to deal with this right now and she opens the door to her apartment. “Look—just leave. I don’t want you to have anything to do with Bela. If Santana says it’s okay then I’ll think about it, but she has way too much shit on her mind then to deal with this so don’t you dare go harass her.”

Russell straightened out his suit and held his head up high, “If that’s how you feel, then I suppose that there really is no reasoning with you. It’s disappointing that you’re using your daughter as a weapon to hurt me and your mother.”  He said as he walked out the door, passing Charlie on the way out.

Charlie paused for a moment wondering if she was, “Bye dad.” Charlie said and closed the door behind her. She couldn’t second-guess her decision. She had made the right choice—hadn’t she?

* * *

 

Isabela had always been an observant kid, she noticed things. When adults were lying to her, when her mom was hiding things from her because she thought that she was far too young to get it. But she had  noticed something was up with her mother. Sure, she had been distracted by Charlie’s presence, and she was sure that her mom had planned it out that way, but it hadn’t stopped her from noticing things were off with her mom. She was always tired like every day, she was just absolutely exhausted. She hadn’t been out to play with her, and they had been eating a lot of take-out lately.

But then there was the puking, and the fact that her mom always looked a bit pale and nauseated. She hadn’t eaten any of her favorite foods and when she did some snooping she realized that her mom was throwing away most of the food that she got. She would crinkle her nose in disgust when the food was served and looked like she was about to get sick. She thought her mom was on some weird diet that her friend’s mothers talked about but her mom always scoffed at those fad diets. Then there was the weird thing that was going on where she wasn’t sure if her Aunt Brittany had accidentally burnt off her mother’s eyebrows or what happened. But that seemed like something her aunt Brittany would do.  And  then there was all the pill bottles that were currently in her mother’s purse.

“Hey mom?” Bela asked as she watched her mother sinking onto the couch and using the blanket she assumed that Charlie had used the night previously to wrap herself up. Her mom turned her attention to her and she moved closer to her, “Are you okay?”

Santana turned her attention to Bela, she was wondering if the numbness that she felt in her knees was something that she needed to be worried about. “Of course I am. I’m just a bit cold and work has been busting my ass lately. ”

She could hear the lie in her mother’s voice and on her face, and when her mom looked away Bela  knew she was lying. “Mom—I’m  ten , and I know how to use the internet! I’ll just look up the names of the drugs in your purse until I figure out what’s going on.”

Santana snorted, “You’re a nosy little shit aren’t you?” She was rewarded with an amused smile from Bela who moved closer to her. She shifted so Bela could have a bit of space on the couch. “I know you’re ten and you need to know that I’m so proud of you.” Santana said moving and wrapping her arms around her daughter tightly.

Bela hugs her mother back, feeling a flair of worry fill her. “Are you going to tell me the truth now? Are you sick?” Bela prods her mother, not quite sure if she  wants to know what the truth was. But she didn’t like to be in the dark.

Santana sighs and shifts a bit so she can rest her head against her daughters. “I am,” Santana said quietly. “I wanted to tell you but there’s been so much stuff going on lately, with Charlie and the house and breaking up with Dani—I just I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“Tell me what?” Bela asked her face scrunching up, her mom wasn’t dying. She was way too much of a badass for that.

“I have—well simply put I have cancer. I have a stage three thymoma, I’ve been having chemotherapy sessions to shrink the tumor. At the end of the chemo, I’ll have a surgery so that they can take it out of my body, because it’s too big for them to take it out now.” Santana explains slowly so that Bela can understand her.

Bela stared at her mother in shock and pulled away from her scrambling backwards. “You have cancer? Are you—are you going to die?” Bela asked, wanting her mom to say no, but when her mom looked away she could feel the tears spring to her eyes. “You’re going to die and you  didn’t tell me?”

Santana closed her eyes, she wasn’t quite sure how this was supposed to play out. Maybe she should have told her sooner, but things had been hectic. She was the mother, she was supposed to worry about her daughter, and she was supposed to protect her. “I’m not just going to roll over and take it Bela, I’m fighting it. Dr. Pillsbury—she says my most recent scans are looking good so it’s working.” Bela didn’t seem to be pleased by this information and she sighs. “Bela—I didn’t want you worrying about me.”

Bela frowned at this, feeling betrayed by her mom she didn’t lie to her. She closes her eyes, and tries to ignore the tears running down her cheek as she pitches forward and wraps her arms around her mother tightly. “You can’t  die mom . You can’t leave me alone,” she begged. “You haven’t gotten your happy ending yet.”

Santana winces at the sudden hug, it was tight and crushing, and she had never felt weaker and more vulnerable in her life as she tries to keep the tears out of her own eyes. “I don’t plan on leaving you alone  ever . And I have gotten my happy ending Bela. The past ten years that I’ve been your mother have been the greatest of my life. The happiest day of my life was when you were born.” Santana said. “Bela, I don’t want you worrying about me, I’ll fight this. I’m just—my body isn’t what it once was and I just feel so tired, but I’m fighting.”

Bela pulls away and looks at her mom for a moment, it was as if she was finally seeing her for the first time, the things that she had brushed away as mere tricks of the light. She swallows. “Who else knows?”

“Your Aunt Brittany, she’s been with me for my last two chemo sessions—and no Bela you can’t come to the sessions with me. It’s no place for children but trust me I’m in relatively good hands with Brittany. Your Aunt Quinn figured it out the day you met her, then she told your Aunt Rachel.” Santana explained. “Charlie figured it out last—but you can’t blame her. I told her that I was going to tell you.”

Bela frowned not liking that Charlie was keeping things from her, she thought that she had been different. She was annoyed that she was the last to know, and she felt guilty she had been difficult to her mom these last couple of weeks, trying to trick her into letting Charlie come around. Sure it had worked—but she had been really rude to her mom. “Okay so we have to work on making sure you get better! Is that why you haven’t been eating?”

“I haven’t been eating because I can’t keep things down, some days are good some days are bad. I’ve got pills for that actually.” Santana explains and bites her lips for a moment before closing her eyes and removing her wig. She hears the sharp inhale from her daughter. “This also happened, but once the chemo ends it’ll start to grow back!” Santana added quickly before fixing the wig back on her head. “It’s itchy and I’m always worried about it falling off when I’m in the middle of kicking someone’s ass.” Santana explained. She doesn’t add that she doesn’t feel beautiful anymore, she doesn’t let her daughter know how sick she really feels. How difficult it is for her to get up in the mornings. How she doesn’t want to look at herself in the mirror anymore.

Bela crinkles her nose, “You look weird without hair,” she said and Santana lets out a harsh laugh, and Bela reaches for it, slipping her fingers underneath the wig and  and touches her mother’s bald head. “Weird! You don’t have to keep it on around me mom. I can shave my—”

“No.” Santana said immediately, pulling off the wig and placing it on the counter behind the couch. “I don’t want anyone shaving their head in support of me. Besides your hair is so beautiful.” Santana reached forward and ran her hand through Bela’s hair messing it up causing her daughter to scowl a bit and fix it. It felt good that she didn’t have to wear the stupid wig in front of her daughter anymore. “How about we get something from your favorite Chinese place and we watch a movie? Just for tonight you don’t have to worry about doing your homework, I’ll write you a note.”

Bela grins and nods, “Okay, I’ll go get the takeout menus, and you can pick out the movie. But we also have to work on finding you your true love, so you can kiss her and you’ll be fine. Dani isn’t on the list. But Charlie is. Now we just need to come up with a plan—you can fake drowning!”

Santana stared at her daughter, she didn’t actually know where that part of her personality came from because it wasn’t from her and she didn’t quite think she got it from Charlie either. “I’m not faking drowning so Charlie can slobber all over my face.”

Bela blinked, “You’re right, that could be gross. But we’ll figure out a way together to find your true love!” Bela informed her before running off.

Santana sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, if Bela thought that Charlie was a horrible kisser she might lay off it for now. She yawned and curled up a bit on the couch waiting for her daughter to return, it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep not noticing that Bela had come back and adjusted her blanket a bit so she wouldn’t be cold. 

 

 


	17. Chapter 17

Bela hummed as she watched Charlie hammering away at something. Charlie hadn’t really said much this entire time. She thought it was weird that her mom insisted on putting on her wig when Charlie was around. “Charlie?” Bela asked kicking her feet as Charlie continued to hammer away. “You have to kiss my mom.” 

Charlie’s head whipped to look at Bela as metal connected with her hand. “ Fuck— ” Charlie began clutching her hand. Hopping around and shaking it off, before remembering she was in the presence of a child. “I mean fudge—I totally said fudge.” Charlie said attempting to shake the pain away. 

Bela giggled as she watched Charlie hopping up down and shaking her hand. She covered her mouth and quickly coughed when Charlie glanced at her again. “Charlie. I’m  ten and a half! You can swear in front of me.” Bela said, her mom did it all the time. Bela leaned forward and picked up the hammer that Charlie had dropped and offered it to her other mother. 

The throbbing sensation in her hand disappeared and Charlie exhaled as she took the hammer and slipped it into her tool belt. “Come again? I’m pretty sure you said that I have to kiss your mom,” Charlie dropped her voice to a whisper and looked up at the ceiling. Santana was upstairs resting and she didn’t want her to hear her.

“I did say that,” Bela said grabbing onto Charlie’s arm and tugging her along. “We have to come up with the perfect plan so my mom can have true love’s kiss with you, which will cure her cancer.” Bela informed Charlie bluntly. “I was going to let you and my mom figure it out on your own but you’re hopeless and my mom thinks you’re lame, so you’re going to need all the help you can get. So I’m going to help you.” 

“You’re going to help me?” Charlie questioned and frowned a bit. “What do you know about kissing? You’re  ten ,” Charlie allowed Bela to pull her upstairs. 

“And a  half! ” Bela reminded Charlie. “I know  everything about true love’s kiss—well mostly. But I’m just going to make you attractive for my mom. Beth says that you need to show her how hot you are. So you’re going to have be like—glistening and the sun has to hit you just right.”

“Bela—” Charlie says.

“Mom you don’t have to hire someone to mow the lawn for you! Charlie said she’ll do it.” Bela informed her mother who was drinking some water. “I’m going to show her where the lawn mower is.”

Santana coughs in surprise, her lawn was getting unruly and some of the neighbors had complained. She had been meaning to call someone to take care of it for her. She looked at Charlie who rubbed the back of her neck. “You don’t have to mow the lawn for me, I can hire some kid to do it for twenty bucks.” Santana points out. 

Charlie shrugged only to have ten year old elbows meet her hip causing her to wince. Charlie flicked her eyes to Bela who pushed her forward a bit. “I don’t mind Santana, if you need anything else done around the house, or outside I can help. You just need to ask. It shouldn’t take me that long.” 

Santana flicked her eyes to her daughter for a moment and glared at her. She was up to something, she could just feel it. Santana sighs and turns back to Charlie and nods, “Thanks Charlie.” She’s about to let them run off when she remembers something. “Bela—your aunt Brittany said she’d be stopping by. I think she had a terrible date last night.” 

Bela crinkled her nose at this, “Good luck with that mom!” 

Santana blinked, “You can’t leave me with her!” 

“I’ve got to  help Charlie!” Bela informed her grabbing Charlie’s arm and tugging again. 

Santana grumbled, “Traitor,” she mutters under her breath as Bela grins and practically drags Charlie out of the room. She sighed and shook her head, she probably should have given Charlie some warning about Bela’s plans but seeing the lost and slightly amused look on Charlie’s face was hilarious. 

 

* * *

Charlie eyes her daughter warily as she unravels the hose as she figures out how to start the lawn mower, “How is she—your mom? Like really,” Charlie asks Bela who turns to her. 

Bela frowns a bit and then shrugs at the question. “She’s just really tired all the time, and some days she gets really sick. We don’t really get to do as much cool stuff like we normally used to. Like she used to mow the lawn and we normally would have a garden around this time of year, but she’s too tired to do it. We were going to start growing vegetables this year. Mom thought it might help me eat my vegetables, but I guess we’re not going to do that this year. I’d eat all the vegetables even the gross ones if it meant my mom would get better.” Bela flicks her eyes to Charlie and then smiles. “But she’s still my mom—and I’m glad you’re helping her.” 

Charlie nods at this, and made up her mind. She’d get a small place nearby so she could be closer and could help out more. She didn’t mind the two hour commute into the city and back. She liked driving, and she felt that she needed to be here, to give Santana a helping hand until she got better. “Okay—if you or your mom need anything all you need to do is call me.” 

Bela nods at this, and was about to say something when she feels something hairy brush across her hand and glances down to see the giant spider on her hand and immediately shakes her hand off. “ Spider , spider—Charlie kill it.” Bela demands pulling away to hide behind Charlie as the spider lays on the green hose. 

Charlie flicks her eyes to spider, expecting some small thing. She immediately jumps back and scrambles backward. “Holy  fuck !” Charlie said. “No! You kill it!” Charlie said trying to push her daughter forward only for Bela to smack her hand and scramble back behind her.

Bela turned to her mother, “What do you mean kill it? What type of knight are you that you can’t take care of a spider?” 

“I can take care of the little ones! That’s fucking  huge ,” Charlie said trying to push her daughter forward.

“I’m  ten , you’re old you’re supposed to protect me!” Bela snapped at Charlie. 

“What are you two yelling about?” Santana said finally coming outside, she had heard the yelling and had practically shoved her feet into some slippers and ran out to make sure that everything was alright. 

Charlie shot Santana a look, “There’s a spider Santana! Kill it.” Charlie said immediately scrambling to hide behind Santana. 

Santana stared at her daughter and her ex-girlfriend, and closed her eyes. “Ten years and I’m still the one that needs to kill the spiders?”

“Yes,” Charlie said pushing Santana forward. “They’re gross and creepy.” 

“You’re a child,” Santana said shaking her head and moving to squish the spider that had been tormenting her family. 

Bela watched for a moment, “Wait—so Charlie’s the princess and you’re the knight mom?” 

“Wait—what? I’m not a princess!” Charlie says frowning at this. 

“Yes. I’ve been trying to tell you, how good Charlie looks in a fluffy pink dress and a tiara,” Santana says at the same time patting Bela on the head. 

“Ew gross! You have spider germs on you.” Bela said and stumbled back. She eyes Charlie for a moment, “We have a  lot of work to do.” 

“You should try princess curls,” Santana said as she headed back inside. “Pretty sure you still have your tiara from when you thought you were a princess.”

Bela huffed and waited until her mom was outside before smacking Charlie in the arm causing her to rub the area. “What was that?” 

“What was what?”

“My mom killing the spider for you!” Bela demands. “How are you supposed to kiss her if she thinks you’re lame and a chicken?” Bela sighed and threw her hands up. 

“In case you haven’t noticed by your existence, she didn’t have a problem with it ten years ago,” Charlie pointed out bluntly. “Bela—your mom doesn’t love me anymore. She might tolerate me and like having me around and I hope that we can be friends one day—but the damage that I did to our relationship is still there. A kiss isn’t going to make your mom fall in love with me and I’m pretty sure that your mom doesn’t want me kissing her.” Charlie explains.

Bela frowned, Charlie was wrong. Her mom wore her wig when Charlie was around, she didn’t do it when Aunt Brittany was around and she noticed her mom watching Charlie all the time when Charlie didn’t notice. “It’s okay if you’re the princess in this Charlie, you’re still the savior.” 

Charlie sighs and throws her hands up, Bela wasn’t listening to her and she wasn’t a princess. “I’m going to mow the lawn,” she says shaking her head. 

Bela smiles knowing that she’s won the argument, “Oh and you should totally practice not slobbering on my mom when you kiss her. That’s gross!”

“I don’t slobber when I kiss,” Charlie said with a sniff and then gently shoves Bela, “I’m going to mow the lawn now.” She said with a shake of her head as she got the lawnmower working and begins to mow the lawn.

Bela huffs and watches Charlie for a moment before going back and grabbing the hose. It’s around noon so it’s probably the perfect time to help Charlie out as she turns the tap and waits until Charlie’s heading towards her before squirting her with the hose, drenching her. 

Charlie stared the lawn mower coming to a complete stop as Bela shot her an innocent smile, “You little—”

Bela grins at Charlie and does the smart thing which is to run as far and as fast as she can. “I’m  helping!”  Bela calls over her shoulder as she nearly falls as she cuts a sharp corner so she can hide behind her mother. “You need to glisten Charlie.  Glisten! ”

Charlie huffs and grumbles at the fact that her shirt is soaked through and she sighs and immediately pulls it off, not caring that she’s only in a sports bra as she heads to her truck to grab another shirt. Bela took after Santana that much was obvious. But even though she was a handful she wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Brittany stared as she watched Charlie from the porch. The contractor hadn’t noticed her but she had certainly noticed Charlie and she swallowed. She wasn’t a terrible person but if Santana didn’t want her—she didn’t understand why she couldn’t have her. “Santana!” Brittany said tearing her eyes away from Charlie and entering the house where Santana was sitting on the couch. “Santana!”

Santana groaned, “Britt—you know I love you and if it was any other time I’d totally let you go on about your date last night but—”

“Are you okay if I tap that?” Brittany asked causing Santana to stare at her. “Charlie—you never told me she was hot! Of course she is, but have you seen those abs! And you said she was really good in bed right? I just—need a win right now and you’re not using her right now.” 

There were days when Santana wondered  why  she was friends with Brittany, but if this meant she didn’t have to listen and suffer through Brittany’s rant about her disastrous date then so be it. She immediately squashed any feelings of jealousy that she felt and shrugged as she looked at Brittany. “Knock yourself out.” She was forgetting something, but with all the chemicals coursing through her body and the fact she was exhausted, she just couldn’t be bothered to remember what it was. 

Brittany grinned and hugged Santana before moving to go and seduce Santana’s ex-girlfriend. She knew a part of her should feel bad but if Santana had any feelings for Charlie she would have said something and it had been ten years. She exited the house and patted Bela on the head as she made her way to Charlie who was just about to start mowing again.  

Charlie turned half expecting it to be Bela only to find a taller blonde standing over her. “Can I help you?” Charlie asked. 

Brittany smiled at Charlie and stuck her hand out to shake Charlie’s hand. “Hi, I’m Brittany Pierce, Santana’s best friend and Bela’s sort of godmother.” 

Charlie blinked and immediately got up from the ground and shook Brittany’s hand. “Charlie, it’s really nice to meet you. Bela’s mentioned you a lot. Thank you for taking such good care of Santana and my daughter,” Charlie said shaking her hand, ignoring a tickle at the back of her throat. 

Bela watched and squinted her eyes only to recognize Brittany’s flirtatious stance and immediately ran back inside. “Mom! Code Red! Where are—” Bela turned into the kitchen to see her mother staring out the kitchen window watching Charlie and Brittany. “Mom! Aunt Brittany’s doing that  thing .”

Santana nodded barely paying attention as she washed some dishes, “Oh—yeah.” Santana said dismissively, her eyes narrowing a bit as she watched Brittany laugh at something that Charlie said. Charlie seemed a bit confused as to what was going on. That wasn’t the Charlie she remembered. The Charlie she remembered would flirt back damn the consequences. 

“Mom you need to stop Aunt Brittany before she gets her hands on Charlie—just say you love her and Aunt Brittany will leave her alone.” Bela said sagely frowning. What happened to Operation Praying mantis? Brittany was supposed to be helping her get her parents back together not hitting on Charlie. 

Santana waved Bela off for a moment as Charlie sneezed and her eyes began to water and it suddenly clicked, Charlie was allergic to cats. She paused for a moment before immediately walking out to go and separate the two of them. Sleeping with Brittany might just kill Charlie, and Brittany would never get rid of her cats. She was doing them both a favor. “Britt—Charlie’s allergic to cats,” Santana said as Charlie stumbled backwards after another sneeze tripping over the lawnmower and landing on her ass. 

Brittany crinkled her nose at this new piece of information, how could someone be allergic to cats. The thought baffled her. “Never mind then,” Brittany said before backing away as Charlie began to sneeze and cough, tears streaming down her face. 

Santana sighed and looked at Charlie, “Come inside I have some allergy medication that you can have and a glass of water,” Santana said to Charlie who nodded as she sneezed again. “You’re going to need to rinse out your eyes if you can.”

Charlie coughed and sniffled, “You know Bela wanted me to glisten for you,” she sneezed again as she was lead up the porch and into the kitchen. “I guess she got her wish.” 

“I said glisten not—” Bela sighed and shook her head. Maybe this had been a terrible idea she had thought that when she met Charlie she would be an even bigger badass than her mother. After all her mom was a complete badass and the only person who could win her heart was a bigger badass. But Charlie wasn’t a badass she was allergic to cats. Who was allergic to cats? She huffed maybe she would have to find her mom someone else. She’s about to turn away when she notices that her mom is looking at Charlie in a way that she had never looked at Dani. With affection. Maybe she had been going about this all wrong, maybe her mom  needed someone lame. 

Brittany smiles as she watches Santana care for Charlie, her master plan had totally worked—well not as well as she thought it would. But it had worked in a backhanded way. “I think that you’ve got a new plot twist in your book,” Brittany whispers to Bela who smiles. 

 


	18. Chapter 18

“When is Isabela coming over again?” Quinn asked Rachel as she got ready for bed sliding under the high thread count sheets and wrapping an arm around her wife and pulling her close. She was rewarded with Rachel giving her a curious look and she cursed inwardly. “I was thinking maybe we could do a bit of a barbeque or something you know, with the rest of the family. My parents—they really want to meet her.”

Rachel closed her eyes, and sighed, she needed to stop Quinn from shooting herself in the foot. “Quinn, I love you but if you do this Charlie will never forgive you. You’re being a hypocrite, and not only will Charlie not forgive you, it’s quite possible that Santana will not trust us to take care of her kid.” 

Quinn sighed, she could sense an argument coming on and it wasn’t one that she wanted any part of. “They’re my  parents , and like it or not Bela is their granddaughter. Charlie’s lashing out against them and it’s not a healthy situation.” Quinn said defensively.  “They’re my  parents Rachel.” 

“I understand that they’re your parents and maybe if it was Charlie I’d suggest  talking to her about it. But Santana also made it clear that she didn’t want them around, like from the very beginning. This might not have anything to do with Charlie and your parents and more to do with Charlie respecting Santana’s wishes.” Rachel points out once again. 

Quinn sighs, “I know the situation is messed up, but someone needs to keep my family together. Santana told  us that she didn’t want Charlie around either and look at that situation now? She’s letting Charlie around Bela. These are her grandparents, it’s the same thing.”

“It’s hardly the same thing and you know it. Charlie is Isabela’s mother, and Charlie didn’t try and force her way into Bela and Santana’s life. She earned Santana’s trust and showed up when she was needed. She didn’t approach Bela when Santana said no, sure she might have tried to take a picture of her but after that there was none of that.” Rachel shifts so she can get a better look at her wife. 

“I’m not trying to—I’m just trying to help. I mean yeah they might be mad at me, but eventually they’ll forgive me for it. It’s the right thing to do.” Quinn protests. Her parents were putting her in a difficult position, and she wasn’t quite sure what the right idea was. 

Rachel sighed, the anger evaporating. “We  told Charlie to take her time, and now look at her. She’s spending time with Bela, some of it is unsupervised. Things are finally looking up for her and she’s spending time reconnecting with Santana. I’ve always said that Santana was Charlie’s great love.” Quinn rolled her eyes and she huffed. She knew her great romances and this was one of them, it had all the makings of an amazing epic love story. “Quinn, you need to tell your parents that you’re not going to get involved. If they want to meet Bela then they’re going to need to be patient and start fixing their relationship with Charlie. I know you want to make things better for everyone, but that is  not what’s going to happen and  we’ll be caught in the middle of all of this.” 

Quinn sighed, this wasn’t enjoyable. “If I don’t do this Rachel, they won’t get anywhere.” 

“Well that’s not true. If you talk to Charlie she might listen to you. If that fails you can drag Frannie along, I’m sure that Charlie would be more willing to listen to the both of you, if only because she’s terrified of Frannie.” Rachel says and rubs Quinn’s side. “And you can talk to your parents about Charlie, tell them what’s been going on in their life and sort of help them understand. Then you’re going to need to give it time.” Rachel suggests it was the best plan that she could come up with on the fly.

Quinn nods and runs a hand through her hair. That plan might actually work, and it was definitely something to consider. Her parents were going to be disappointed regardless, and they were probably going to put some of the blame on her shoulders. Frannie actually had the argument that what Charlie had told her was privilege. She called bullshit but there was nothing she could do about it. Though it had bothered her that Charlie had turned to Frannie for help, she didn’t even know how to handle that. “You’re right maybe if I bring Frannie, Charlie might just listen to me.”

Rachel flinched at the jealousy in her voice and rubbed Quinn’s side. “Quinn, maybe if you talked to Charlie like you talk to other people, she might be more willing to listen to you. You can’t come down on her hard, and try and do this tough love thing that your father has been preaching. It makes Charlie feel alienated and like you aren’t coming from a healthy place.” She immediately holds up her hands. “I know you are, but that’s not what Charlie’s hearing.”

“I can’t help what Charlie hears,” Quinn said petulantly. It didn’t matter if she was being obstinate about this, the entire situation was messed up and she just wanted some sense of normalcy. 

Rachel poked her wife in the stomach causing Quinn to let out a laugh and she smiles. “Yes you can, you just haven’t cared. It’s not as if Charlie didn’t need to hear that at the beginning, she was a mess and she needed to hear that. She did, I’ll be the first one to admit that Charlie needed to hear it again and again until it sunk in.” Rachel kissed Quinn’s forehead. “Quinn, you need to know that I love you but you’ve been a bit of a broken record on this. It’s been  years and Charlie might be a mess but it’s not because of the drugs. Up until Bela stormed into her life she was practically a hermit.”

Quinn grimaced at this, “Yeah but it’s not as if my mom hasn’t  tried to set her up. She’s tried to set up Frannie as well—it just doesn’t work.” 

“Well, Charlie has been a bit hopeless in that situation. But you also need to think about the type of aunt you want to be to  Charlie’s daughter. She’s not just Santana’s child, and you always wanted to be the fun cool aunt. Now you can, as long as you get things squared away with Charlie and Santana.” 

Quinn nodded and then flopped back on the pillow as Rachel moved to straddle her, “I got incredibly lucky marrying you,” she murmurs to her wife leaning up to kiss her. 

“You really did,” Rachel says with a pleased smirk. 

 

* * *

Bela rubbed her arm as she looked at her mom who had fallen asleep on the couch again, there was a bucket nearby, that seemed used even though it had been cleaned out and she frowned. Today hadn’t been a good day for her, and her mother actually looked rather skinny and green. She immediately heads to the closet by the stairs and pulls out the quilt her abuela had made for her and goes to place it back on her mother’s lap. Charlie would be around later to help around the house and feed her but until then she was on her own.  

Her frown deepens when her mom doesn’t even shift. She had always been the mom that jumped up at the littlest sound, ready to help Bela with whatever she needed. This was new territory and Bela didn’t really know how to navigate it.

She paused for a minute, trying to figure out what to do. She and her mom had been fighting so much lately, everything felt wrong. But ever since she was little, her mom had always promised that she slept better on the couch when Bela snuggled in beside her. Resolving to do just that, Bela carefully sat down next to her mom, pulling her outstretched legs into her lap.

Santana grumbled a little, stirring at the movement. Bela stiffened reflexively, holding her breath. Even if her mom didn’t say it, Bela could tell she hadn’t been sleeping well. But eventually her mother relaxes a bit and shifts, and Bela exhales slowly when her mother’s arm finds it way around her shoulders. Even while sleeping her mom was still her mom. “I don’t want you to die,” Bela mumbles, she sniffs a bit. “So please get better,  please . I just want to be a family with you me and Charlie.” 

Santana doesn’t answer, but she does let out a deep breath and Bela rubs her leg over her mother’s leg gently, playing with the frayed edges of the quilt. “I didn’t mean to say that I wanted to go live with Charlie, and yeah she’s my mom too, but I want to stay here with you. Charlie’s weird, and quiet and she’s not you. I’m sorry mom, I’m sorry that I went to New York to bring her back, but I just wanted you to be happy. That’s all I wanted, for you to have your happy ending.” She mumbles the last part, all her life her mother had let her believe that everyone had a happy ending. They found the person that they loved more than anything and they lived happily ever after going old and grey.  

But her mom didn’t have anyone else. Just Aunt Brittany who went on a lot of dates with other people. It was weird all of her friends knew who their other parent was, even the ones that had divorced parents like Tracy. Everytime she had asked her mom about Charlie she would get this far off look in her eye and she’d smile a bit before telling her all the adventures that they had gone on. How romantic Charlie had been. How she was the greatest gift that Charlie had ever given her. Her mom  loved Charlie, she knew it and Charlie loved her. They just needed to be reminded that they were true loves and kiss and make up. Then the three of them could be a family, that’s all she wanted, and she knew deep down that’s what her mom wanted too. 

 


	19. Chapter 19

Bela hummed as Charlie worked on building them a garden, “When did you know you loved my mom?” Bela asked Charlie who froze and looked at her. “Mom told me about how she met you—but she’s never talked about how you two fell in love.”

Charlie was quiet for a long moment and studied her daughter, “Well it depends—I think I fell in love with your mom the moment I met her, but that’s creepy so I tell her it was after—” Charlie turns a bright red and immediately goes back to making the garden. “She killed a spider for me,” Charlie explains. There was no way she was going to tell Bela that it was after a day where all they had done was have sex. She had been the idiot to blurt it out as they lay panting, their bodies enjoying the post-orgasmic bliss. 

Bela didn’t notice Charlie’s discomfort and instead grinned widely as she wrote it down. “If it was love at first sight—you need to tell mom that. Then you  have to serenade her.” Bela nods at this as she scribbles something down. “Aunt Rachel, told us that she fell in love with Aunt Quinn when she serenaded her after one of her shows and everyone had left.” Bela explains. 

Charlie sighed, “Bela, I know you want me and your mom to get back together—but your mom doesn’t like me like that. Not anymore and trust me when I say—serenading your mother will not win her heart. It might hurt her ears instead.” Bela looked at her and Charlie flashed her an amused smile. “Can’t sing,” Charlie admits. She smiles, “You know every time I’d try, your mom would try and suffocate me with a pillow.” 

Bela smiled that sounded like her mom, “Why can’t you get back together with my mom?” Bela asked. 

Charlie sighs and sits down in front of Bela and gently takes her hand, wondering how she was going to explain it so Bela could understand. “Have you ever hurt someone’s feelings?” Charlie asked.

Bela paused for a moment, “On accident or on purpose?” She had done both, a lot of times. 

“Both,” Charlie said and then paused for a moment. “Well no—more like on purpose.” Charlie clarified after a moment. She watched as a guilty expression crossed Bela’s face and her daughter nodded. “It makes you feel bad and it makes you feel guilty and gross on the inside, doesn’t it?” 

“It does—but what does that have to do with you and my mom?” Bela asks and Charlie looks away for a moment.

Charlie sighed, “I don’t think you understand but I did worse than that—it was a lot worse. I really hurt your mom. I’m not—I’m not a good person Bela. Why do you think your mom took you and ran away? Because I was a  bad person. I am a bad person. But she forgave me—that’s just the type of person your mother is, strong—smart—and she has a bigger heart than I do. I’m not—I don’t deserve her Bela.” She was broken, and Santana deserved someone who was whole and healthy and didn’t have a past with drugs, who didn’t have a past of abuse. “I’m not your mother’s happy ending Bela. Maybe years ago I could have been—but now I’m just—well me. People like me don’t get happy endings and I’m okay with that. I have you and maybe one day your mom’s friendship and that’s enough for me.” 

Bela frowned for a moment and then shrugged, “You  have to say that. You’re the savior.”

“Bela—I can’t even save myself sometimes. I’m not the savior that you think I am.” Charlie responds with a sigh. She rubs some of the dirt on her hand onto her forehead before sighing and looking at her. She was going to be honest with her daughter, even if it ruined things. Bela needed to understand why this was a bad idea. “Bela—I’ve hurt your mom—physically before.” 

Bela recoiled she didn’t know that. She just thought that Charlie had hurt her mom’s feelings. “You’re  lying! You wouldn’t do that!”  Bela said firmly. 

“You’re right—I wouldn’t do that now. But I did do it, and it’s not something I’m proud of. But when I say your mom and I are never going to happen—well we’re never going to happen. I messed up the best thing that ever happened to me and I hurt your mom deeply.” Charlie explains slowly, she can see the disbelief and then hurt in Bela’s eyes. 

Bela swallows and studies Charlie for a moment, “Would you ever hurt my mom again?” She needs to know if Charlie was truly sorry.

“No. I’d like to think that I’m not that person anymore Bela. But just because you say sorry doesn’t make things magically better. Your mother  shouldn’t  forget what I did, she shouldn’t love me.” Charlie explains to Bela who still doesn’t seem convinced.  “There are things you just never come back from, not really.”

“My mom would totally kick your ass if you ever put your hands on her again—and then I would to.” Bela said bluntly and gets up to walk away. “My mom says you’re not the same person that she left and that’s a good thing right. So if my mom is willing to give you a second chance you should take it, even if you think you don’t deserve it.” Bela calls over her shoulder. 

* * *

 

Santana exhaled as she took a sip of her water. Today was a good day. Any day where she didn’t feel like death was a good day in her books. Maybe it was a sign that she was getting better, that her body was fighting this. Especially after a week or three of bad days, this was going to be a welcome relief. Maybe she could finally do something with Bela tonight—and maybe if Charlie wanted to tag along. She had been around a lot and it felt  normal almost and it feels—sort of nice. She shakes the thoughts out of her head for a moment as her phone rings and she picks up. 

“You have a new client in the lobby Santana, do you want me send them up?” 

Santana exhales and looks at the time, she really had wanted to call it a day early. “Alright, send them up.” She relaxes for a moment. She would deal with them as quickly as possible maybe she could take Bela shopping, or go for something as relaxing as a pedicure.  She laughs to herself as she thinks of Charlie doing something like that now. It’d at least give her a good laugh maybe she’d invite Brittany as well it would be a nice girl’s night out. She hadn’t had one of those in a long time. The door to her office opens and she immediately stands up forcing the dizziness aside at the quick motion as she moves to greet her new clients only to freeze when she sees who it is. “Mr. and Mrs. Fabray.” Her tone is flat as she says this and she immediately moves to sit back down. 

Judy didn’t let the flat tone bother her as she smiles brightly at Santana, taking the lead from her husband who couldn’t exactly remember who Santana was. “Santana! It’s so good to see you again. Out of all of Charlie’s girlfriends you were always my favorite. How are your parents doing?” 

“Still in Arizona,” Santana says with a flat tone motioning for them to sit down. “They’re enjoying their retirement—and thank you I think.” 

Judy smiled and looked around Santana’s elegantly designed office, “Your parents must be so proud of you. That you went to university and you’ve managed to accomplish all of this.”

Santana arched a brow at this statement, her father was a doctor. Her mother was a lawyer herself, why wouldn’t they push her into entering a field like one of theirs? Her dad was still miffed that she hadn’t gone to med school to become a doctor like he was. “Right, I imagine that you’re incredibly proud of your children for going to university as well.” Santana shot back. She closes her eyes, and counts to ten. She had never really liked Charlie’s parents to begin with—she had tolerated them for Charlie’s sake. “Why don’t we get down to business?” She wanted to find out why they were here so she could get rid of them just as quickly.

Russell understood business and quickly got straight to the point. “We would like to see our granddaughter.” 

Santana stared at Charlie’s parents for a moment. “No. Thanks for coming—please see yourself out.” Santana said bluntly. Well that was quick. Maybe she could make that pedicure with Bela, perhaps it should be the two of them for some bonding. 

Judy hadn’t expected it and judging from the redness in his cheeks Russell wasn’t expecting it either, and she immediately puts a hand on his  shoulder to stop him from causing a scene. “Now Santana—”

Santana held up her hand immediately, she was so not in the mood to deal with this today of all days. “I said no. I’m not dating Charlie, and even if I was you don’t have any sort of relationship with her that I need to step on eggshells to try and get your approval. I think I’ve made my position very clear. So we’re done here.” Santana said firmly. She didn’t want to hear Judy trying to manipulate her emotions, nor did she want to have to deal with Russell trying to bully her. 

“We just want to get to know our granddaughter,” Judy explains trying to defuse the situation before it started. 

Santana closed her eyes again and slowly counted to ten. She needed to keep calm. Getting angry was a surefire way to burn out her energy and she really did want to have a night with her daughter tonight. “My daughter is happy and healthy, and more importantly she knows that she is loved. I don’t understand why you want to meet her. So you can give her gifts like you do with Beth? Or perhaps put insane aspirations and expectations on her?” Santana frowned. This didn’t seem to be getting through to them. “Charlie and I are on the same page about this. We don’t want Bela meeting the two of you. I doubt she’s going to go out of her way to meet you. So can you please get out of my office and leave me and my family alone.”

Russell bristled at this. “You think that we don’t love our daughter? Our any of our children? I don’t know what line of shit that my daughter has been feeding you but everything we did for Charlie was to help her get better. The fact that she’s turning you against us, has more to do with her  sickness than anything else.”

Santana frowns at this, she didn’t want to go toe to toe with Charlie’s parents, she didn’t have the energy for this and the stress would get to her quickly. “Charlie did drugs ten years ago. If you think that I don’t know Charlie when she’s high or when she’s lying to me about something, you’re sadly mistaken. I was at ground zero. Now, you want to be angry you want to be disappointed, then be my guest. But I’m Bela’s parents and part of the reason I’m against this is because I don’t need you poisoning her mind against Charlie. I don’t need you buying her crap she doesn’t need, and more importantly I don’t need you making her feel unloved if she screws up.” 

“We tried our very best to help our daughter—”

“Understand that Bela isn’t some bargaining chip, I don’t want her to know you but if Charlie is willing to go to bat with you then so be it. I’ll think about it. In case you don’t understand what I’m saying. Fix your damned relationship with your daughter before you do anything at all. Now get the hell out of my office before I call security.” Santana snaps at them and reaches for her phone. 

“Are you kidding me?” Russell began his own patience wearing thin as he slammed his hand on the table only to have his wife put her hand on his. “She’s our  granddaughter .” 

Santana picks up the phone as Judy pulls her husband out. She listens to him rant until he tires himself out before she finally chooses to speak when they’re in the elevator. “I don’t think she’s wrong—I mean you did tell Quinn to keep Charlie away from Beth. This is the exact same thing.” 

Russell frowns, “Not you too. I wasn’t going to let a known drug addict near my granddaughter. What if she did something when she wasn’t in control? Beth was a baby and before you go jumping down my throat, realize what this Santana did. She left with Charlie’s child and now she thinks she’s  better than us, when she did the exact same thing we would have done.” He exhales slowly. “After all the money we’ve given her?” 

Judy sighs, “We don’t give her money, I may put in a bit extra, but she does work for that money. I have to  beg her to do the job and then most times she returns the money. Charlie doesn’t take anything from us—I want to meet our granddaughter and perhaps we haven’t been as in tune with our daughter as we should have. Perhaps we can at least make an effort, maybe we can do dinner with her.” 

“Right, I don’t really care what you do but can you do it  outside my office? I actually do have stuff to do and now that we’ve come to an understanding I’d like to get back to it.” Santana says in a snarky tone. “I would rather not have security in my office, they end up getting crumbs from all the donuts in my office.” 


	20. Chapter 20

Charlie fiddled with her shirt, trying to make sure it was smooth. It was the first time she had worn something that didn’t have paint all over it and she felt awkward.  Santana had been feeling good lately, and she had planned to take advantage of it. While she had balked at going for pedicures with Bela and Santana, much to Bela’s general displeasure, she had been talked into a dinner. Just the three of them, it had been Bela’s idea and Santana actually felt like eating and wanted to do some cooking instead of eating out. Bela had insisted that she had to wear something not covered in paint. So she had stopped by Target and gotten some cheap jeans that fit and a brand new shirt. The clothes felt weird not broken in and she had even bought a brand new pair of shoes that weren’t work boots. 

She hesitates at the door, wondering if the pie she brought was a bit too much, or not enough. Maybe she should have brought some wine. Rachel was always insisting that you couldn’t just show up empty handed. Maybe she should have gotten something for Bela as well. Cookies, kids liked cookies right? Charlie exhales slowly and pushes the button. She looks awful maybe she should have gone to buy something nice, but those clothes no longer fit her anymore. She feels odd in them, like she doesn’t quite belong. It takes a moment for the door to open and she smiles when she sees Santana open the door. “Hey!” she greets her voice a bit too loud and she winces and clears her throat. “I brought pie—for all of us to eat.” She waits for the hug tackle from Bela and pauses when she doesn’t hear steps or even some shouting. “Um—where’s the kid?” 

Santana rolled her eyes at the question and quickly gave Charlie a once over as she stepped aside to let her in. “The little shit had a ‘homework’ emergency project.” Santana explained. “ Your daughter is still trying to parent trap us.” 

Charlie shuffled nervously and held out the pie for Santana trying not to smile at the words. Whenever Bela acted out Santana insisted that she was her daughter. It felt nice. Like she had a family, and for a moment she could pretend that they were a family. It’s probably why she had been looking forward to this dinner together. “Oh—I can go then? You can have the pie and eat it with Bela when she gets back.” 

“Please and what? Waste the first dinner I made in months? I made my famous enchiladas, which are Bela’s favorite, and you’re going to park your ass down at that table and eat enough so the little shit doesn’t get any leftovers.” Santana grumbled motioning for Charlie to enter the house. “If she thinks that leaving us in a room together alone, is going to make us lose our heads and start making out like a couple of teenagers, my daughter has a lot to learn.” Santana said with an irritated sniff. “I never even let her watch the stupid movie to begin with. I can’t believe she thinks she can pull one over on  me .” Santana said narrowing her eyes. “Like she thinks she’s smarter than me. She’s  ten . The day I get tricked by a ten year old is the day—” She immediately stumbles a bit. Getting worked up only enhanced her dizziness and she feels Charlie wrap an arm around her catching her. 

“Bela probably can’t pull one over on you, but I’m pretty sure she’s got me wrapped around her little ten year old fingers,” Charlie says. She wants to add just like her mom but doesn’t, instead pulling away when Santana steadies herself. 

“She thinks she’s cute. That’s the problem. Like she can get away with everything with just that smile of hers. She takes after you.” Santana complains as she gently swats Charlie away. She can walk on her own and she motions for Charlie to sit at the table. “She also has your damned appetite—that hasn’t changed has it? I’ve never actually seen you eat lately.” 

“Here—at least let me help—” Charlie said only to have Santana give her a glare causing her to sit down in her seat and shrink down a bit as Santana begins to serve the food. Charlie watches quietly as Santana puts some food on her plate, it wasn’t much and pours herself some water before handing the serving dish to her. 

“My mom would say you’re too skinny,” Santana mumbles and eyes Charlie who takes a generous helping of food and she relaxes. It’s dinner. They could do dinner without Bela to break the silence between them. They were grown adults. 

“How are your parents?” Charlie asks. 

“Retired in Arizona, enjoying the heat. No more cold winters for them.” Santana says and looks at Charlie who smiles at this. “They don’t know about the cancer, or that you’re back in my life.” Santana shrugs and begins to eat. “I didn’t want them to worry about me, and the last thing I need is my mom here trying to get me to do these alternative traditional remedies. I feel shitty enough thank you very much without having to ingest something absolutely horrid.” Santana was quiet for a moment pushing the food round her plate. “Bela talks to them at least once a week, they come up for Christmas—or we go down there. They try and set me up with someone—it’s nice.” 

“Good you deserve something nice,” Charlie said quietly as she sits there quietly, letting an awkward silence fill the room. Charlie shifts a bit and begins to slowly eat, making sure not to spill any on her shirt. She glances up at Santana who seems to be focused on her food. “So—the basement, I redid the floors. I hope you don’t mind the darker color that I chose. I thought it’d be best so the room looks a bit brighter. But if you want I can take it out—” Charlie rubs her wrist looking at Santana. 

“It’s nice—for once I’m going to trust your judgement and it looks better than when the guy did it. I can’t believe I got  ripped off,” Santana says shaking her head. She takes another bite not looking at Charlie in the eye. This was weird and awkward. She was going to do something to her daughter, she just hadn’t decided what.

Charlie nods and eats some of her food, “You did get ripped off. He didn’t do a good job. There shouldn’t have been that much water damage—but it’s not the worse that I’ve seen. Some people just want to grab the money and go—they don’t know what they’re doing or they cut corners to save costs so they can pocket the money.” Charlie explained and paused for a moment, “You don’t want to hear about this.” The food is just as delicious as she remembers and she tries to change the topic to something easy. “This is good—”

“What the hell happened to you? Why are you putting yourself down like I don’t want to hear about your job?”  Santana asked cutting Charlie off. She sighs, “I’ve tried to make sure that Bela isn’t exposed to a lot of negativity. I want her to be confident, I want her to be self-assured. To know what she wants and who she wants. Your  job is important Charlie. Even if you don’t think it is.”

“I’m not that person anymore—” Charlie begins again.

“I know Charlie, for fucks sake I know. You don’t have to keep telling me that. I’ve  seen that. I’ve seen that you’re not the same person as you were. You think I’d let you into our lives if you were still on drugs? But by your own admission you’ve been clean for ten years.” Santana sighs as she watches Charlie for a moment. She didn’t know how to explain it to her, without things becoming weird again. “At some point you have to stop crucifying yourself—and just live life again Charlie.” 

“I am living—I have a job, and I have friends and I go to meetings—and now I have Bela. It’s a pretty full life.” Charlie says trying to defend herself. 

“You know what I think? That you’ve sanitized your life. I’ve seen your apartment Charlie it’s empty. Your life is empty, it’s not like you’re going out with friends, or having fun or doing anything. I mean at least I have an excuse—what’s yours?” 

Charlie narrowed her eyes for a moment and looked at her plate. “This is really good Santana—you’re still an amazing cook.” She said changing the subject, she couldn’t get into it with Santana. 

“ Charlie —” Santana says in an exasperated tone. 

“Santana,” Charlie says quietly. “What is it that you want to hear from me exactly? It’s complicated.”

Santana sighs and shakes her head. It had never been this complicated before. “What  happened to you?” 

Charlie sighs and puts her fork down. “I’m content—it took a while but I’m satisfied with my life. I know it’s a mess and it’s not what it once was—but I’m in a healthy place. In the end that’s all that matters.” 

Santana studies Charlie for a moment torn on whether to push for answers or to just lay off. She watches as Charlie pushes the food around on her plate and eats it slowly. Charlie didn’t pick at food she finished what was on her plate, it didn’t matter what was on her plate to some extent. “I don’t want Bela to just be content with her life. I want her to be  happy to reach for the stars, to have some  self-worth . You can’t lie to me Charlie, you’ve never really been able to lie to me. You aren’t anywhere  near a healthy place in your life. When was the last time you were truly happy?” Santana narrowed her eyes when Charlie looked away. “It’s been ten years are you ever going to stop beating yourself up about this?” 

“No.” Charlie answers honestly. 

“Why the fuck not?” Santana snaps at her throwing her hands up in the air. 

“Because I have a fucking ten year old daughter Santana. I have a ten year old daughter. I didn’t change a diaper, I didn’t stay up, to rock her to sleep. I never fed her, I missed her first words, and I missed reading her stories. I missed playing stupid games like hide and seek with her. And the thing is I can’t  blame you. I can’t say this is your fault because if the positions were reversed I would have done the same thing.” Charlie snaps at Santana causing her to tense up. “I could have had this life with you—with the two of you. We could have been a proper family.” Charlie closed her eyes. “I’m not angry at you. I’m angry with myself, because in the end  I screwed up the best thing to ever happen to me.” Charlie takes a shaky breath and runs a hand through her hair. “I screwed up, I wanted to find you after I got clean—but I wanted to be clean a year. For at least a year. I wanted to make sure that I had something to show you. But then Beth was born.” 

“What does Beth have to do with not coming to find me?” Santana asks confused. 

“How could I ever have expected you to think I was clean, when Quinn and my dad practically threw me out of the hospital because they didn’t want me to corrupt her?” Charlie admits and sighs. “And I was scared—that you’d do the same.” Charlie admits. “Besides—at that time I didn’t have anything to offer you. I wasn’t going to be a billionaire by thirty. I wasn’t strong anymore, I was broken and lost and scared and I was ashamed to show you how far I’d fallen.”

Santana sighs at this, “It’s not just  on you. I could have found you easily, I’ve always known where your parents live. I mean Rachel is a Broadway legend, I could have found her. You don’t have the market cornered on fear and regret, Charlie. I never checked because I was afraid of what I would find. I didn’t know if you’d be dead—or so completely out of it. By the time that Bela hit two years old, it became a matter of proving to everyone—to myself that I didn’t need you.” She looks up at Charlie who is watching her. “I see how good you are with Bela, I mean yeah you need to learn to say no to her and mean it—but you’re good with her. You’re not the only person who thinks about what could have been.” Santana sighs. “I made the right decision back then to leave—I know I did.” 

There’s an awkward pause until Charlie’s lip twitch upwards, “We make quite the pair, don’t we?” 

“We always did.” Santana said with a snort and shakes her head. She thinks for a movie and then studies Charlie for a moment. “I—have something for you. But I’m dead serious about making sure your daughter has no leftovers.” 

Charlie raises a brow but begins to eat, shoveling food into her mouth and watching Santana. It tastes good, even though the foods gone warm. It’s the first home-cooked meal she’s had in years. She finishes her plate as Santana finishes hers. “I can take the rest back home?” She offers and Santana studies her for a moment before nodding. Charlie smiles and immediately gets up to pack away the dishes. “You made dinner so I’ll do the dishes.” 

“Alright—bring the pie to the living room when you’re done,” Santana offers to Charlie who nods and she moves to the living room and goes to her DVD collection and pulls out a few DVDs and looks at them carefully before pulling out one of the discs and popping it into the DVD player. She makes her way to the couch and flops down on it, grabbing the blanket she now kept down here and wrapping it around herself as she waits for Charlie. It takes a few moments and her eyes feel a bit heavy when Charlie finally shows up and takes a seat beside her. “I thought—we could watch some home videos. Of Bela—I chose the most embarrassing ones.” Santana said and smirked. 

Charlie blinks and stares at the television for a moment before looking at Santana and then back at the television and then smiles. “You have videos?” 

“I needed something to embarrass her with when she was a teenager,” Santana said with a sniff. “I need to get my shits and giggles in somewhere,” She smiled at Charlie and motions for her to sit down beside her. “So now you can remind her off all the stuff that she’s done. In grave detail. That should teach her not to try and act like she’s smarter than me.” 

Charlie takes a seat, she doesn’t exactly know what to say but it’s one of the biggest gifts anyone has ever given her so she’ll take it. Santana fiddles with the remote and starts the DVD as an image of Bela fills the screen. Bela is wearing a little birthday hat, her cheeks are considerably chubbier than they are now and she’s smacking her hands on her high chair reaching for the birthday cake and babbling nonstop. Little bubbles of spit on her mouth. Charlie watches and blinks, surprised at the sting of tears in her eyes, but she blinks them back because Santana is watching her carefully.  

Santana hums along as she sings happy birthday for her daughter and lights the candle and places it in front of her. “So this may not have been my best idea—but I didn’t think she’d actually do it,” Santana says to Charlie who turns to her. Santana bites her lip as the baby Bela stares at the fire and immediately grabs the flame.  She hears the younger version of her curse as her daughter begins to bawl and smacks the cake away causing it to land on the floor as she wails. Santana grins as Charlie snorts at this and then begins to laugh. “I didn’t think it through. I thought she’d blow out the candles!” 

Charlie laughs heartily, “She was one Santana! I think I did the same thing, when I was her age.” 

“Yes but you were never that bright to begin with,” Santana says with a huff and leans in to poke Charlie’s side. 

“It could have been Quinn,” Charlie says defensively though there is a huge grin on her face. “I’m pretty sure my parents couldn’t tell us apart.” 

Santana laughs at this, “So I should call you Quinn now?” 

“Oh god please no. I like my name. Charlie fits.” Charlie says with a snort.

Santana rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to the screen where she’s holding and shushing Bela who is curled up against her. Things really would have been different if Charlie was around, maybe things wouldn’t have been so hard on her. She wouldn’t have made as many mistakes they could have been a team. Maybe they wouldn’t have taken over New York together, but they would have been happy. “You know she shares your fear of Muppets too right?”

“That makes sense, Muppets are the devil and need to be burned,” Charlie says as Santana laughs and rolls her eyes. 

 

* * *

Santana shifted a bit as she opened her eyes, groaning as hair falls into her face. She had fallen asleep with her wig on. No wonder she was so warm. She pushes the blanket off her legs and shifts as she pulls the wig off absentmindedly. She blinks a few time as the light from a window hits her face and she realizes that she’s still in the living room. She shifts a bit and rolls onto her back before pausing as it suddenly hits her that she’s curled up against Charlie who is sleeping soundly an arm around her shoulders. Santana freezes immediately, as she realizes that her wig is now off and on the coffee table where she had tossed it. She immediately reaches for it only to have Charlie stir. “ Shit ,” she mumbles under her breath and waits. Charlie had always slept like the dead when had that changed? Santana shifts quietly and gently moves Charlie’s arm, so she can make a quick grab and put the wig on.  She leans forward and grabs it quickly, pulling her arm back, causing her elbow to slam into Charlie’s stomach. 

Charlie’s eyes snap open at the impact as she gets momentarily winded. It takes her a moment to realize where she is and she flicks her eyes to Santana who is desperately trying to put on her wig without a mirror. Charlie groans and shifts sitting up, rubbing her eye. “Doesn’t that itch?” Charlie says it’s the first thing that comes to her mind and Santana turns to her. 

Santana pauses and looks at Charlie for a moment, “It does and it gets hot and sweaty and I hate wearing it,” Santana says as she continues to try and fix her wig. She’s embarrassed, this wasn’t supposed to happen. Maybe she could kick Charlie out, and pretend that it never happened. Was that an option that she could take? It was what she was leaning to. 

Charlie watches Santana for a moment and then reaches forward and gently takes her hands, “You don’t need to wear that in front of me. I still think you’re beautiful.” Charlie blinks as what she just says finally clicks. “I mean—in the purely—platonic way not the—I mean you always look beautiful Santana—”

Santana stared at Charlie who was trying to say words—badly and snorts, relaxing. It’s enough to make her feel a bit better about the fact that she has no hair. It’s something that she feels incredibly self-conscious about. “How about we go get some breakfast and I’ll continue to tell you stories about Bela that will make her squirm?” 

“Bonding over pancakes and embarrassing our kid?” Charlie says watching as Santana puts down the wig. “Sounds like fun.” 

“I’ll also teach you how to say no to her,” Santana adds taking Charlie’s arm and letting her help her to the kitchen. 

Charlie smirked, that probably would never happen, but for just the chance of spending a few more minutes with Santana and their make-shift family, she’d do just about anything.

 


	21. Chapter 21

The good days—couldn’t last, she should have known that. It was after her next chemotherapy session that the good days ended, maybe to never return. Her joints ached, her body felt  weak , and the nausea was back with a vengeance, she had managed to keep relatively healthy but her immune system had been compromised and a simple cold felt like she was suffocating in her mucus. She had barely been able to lift her arm so she could hit her alarm clock, there wasn’t going to be any crawling out of bed today. Or leaving bed for that matter. She felt useless, she couldn’t get out of bed to make her daughter breakfast, and she couldn’t make sure that Bela had all her homework for the day, she couldn’t  do  anything. She wanted to cry, or if she could manage it, curl up and die in peace. She didn’t understand what was so wrong with that? 

Bela swallowed from where she was standing at the doorway, peering into her mother’s room. It was unusual for her mom to not be up at this time. She didn’t usually sleep in even when she was sick. She heard a low moan and took a step back, scared. Even with the chemo, her mom  always got up. It wasn’t just the breakfast, but she always got a hug and a kiss on the forehead before she went to school. Bela bites her lip and takes a step into her mother’s room, not bothering to knock. Her mom always made her feel better when she was sick and it was just school. “Mom?” 

Santana flicked her eyes to her daughter for a moment and her heart broke at the worry on her face, “Hold on Bela—I’ll make you a breakfast.” Santana said as she tried to force herself into a sitting position. She could do this, if she ignored the immediate vertigo and the nausea. 

“It’s fine mom—I had cereal—cookie crunch,” Bela said quietly moving quickly and quietly to her bed. “Mom don’t get up—I’ll take care of you today—I can make some soup and—” Bela fiddles with her hands nervously, she’s not sure what to do but her mom always made her soup when she was sick, and sometimes she got a popsicle if she was running a temperature. She could do that for her mom.

She wants to lie to her daughter, to tell her that she’s fine. But she hadn’t raised her daughter to be a gullible idiot. So instead she flashes a smile at Bela, even that movement was too much work for her. “Nice try. What did I say about trying to get one over on me?” Santana said trying to keep her voice even. “You’re going to school and then you’re coming straight back.”

“But you’re sick! I can take care of you mom. I’m ten and a half!” Bela’s lip quivered a bit.

“Bela—you’re going to school. I’m going to be fine. I just—I just need to rest a bit. Today’s just not a good day, is all. I’ll be here when you get back home. I promise.” Santana vows, holding up her hand and showing her daughter her pinky finger. 

Bela frowns not quite trusting her mother but takes her pinky with her own, she wasn’t going to be able to concentrate at school and she didn’t feel right just  leaving  her mother alone. Not while she was this sick—she was going to call her Aunt Brittany—no she was going to call Charlie. Her plan had  worked sort of, her parents were spending a lot of time together. This would be perfect and she would give Charlie a list of things to do to make sure that her mom was okay. She’d have to do the list completely. Bela nods at her mother and wiggles onto the bed and kisses her mom’s forehead gently. “Please get better,” she mumbles under her breath before she moves to go to school. She closes her mom’s door and pulls out her phone and dials Charlie’s number. 

‘Bela ?  Everything okay? I’m on the highway and you know I don’t have that fancy hands-free thing that some cars have.’ 

Bela looked back at her mom’s room, “My mom is super sick and she’s making me go to school—you have to come back and take care of her. She shouldn’t be alone Charlie— please . All you have to do is—make her soup and give her a Popsicle and read to her! I’m really worried about her and she won’t ever ask for help!” 

‘Bela—’  Charlie begins as she takes an exit so she can turn around. 

“Charlie  please! It’s not that hard—but we’re all she has. Well she has Aunt Brittany—but she won’t do it right! So please, I’ll give you all the instructions and you just have to do it. She doesn’t like anyone seeing her weak—but it’s just you and you’ve probably taken care of my mom before! You’re the savior Charlie remember!” 

‘Okay Bela—just write down what I need to do, and I’ll do it but I’m about an hour out if that’s okay. You need to get to school. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’  Charlie says managing to get the words out quickly so she can before her daughter has some sort of panic attack. 

Bela exhales pleased with herself, “I’ll leave the door unlocked for you—and I’ll write out all the instructions, and text them to you.” Bela says. “You have to keep in touch all day, she’s  very sick.” 

‘I know Bela, I’ll be there to take care of her. I promise and I’ll do everything you ask me to. Anything to make your mom feel better.’ Charlie replied, if Bela was worried about Santana then it  had to be bad. At the very least she would keep Santana company until she felt better, or it was time to pick up Bela. She didn’t mind carrying the load and making sure that their daughter was cared for. She needed to step up and  not think about the fact that Santana was struggling. She couldn’t follow that line of thought, she refused to think about it. She was Santana Lopez if anyone could beat this thing—it was her. 

 

* * *

Charlie rubbed her hands as she parked outside Santana’s house, she didn’t exactly know what to do. Even though Bela had given her  very specific instructions, it wasn’t as if Santana just had a common cold. She was on chemotherapy. She had lost her hair, she had been fighting a whole host of other side effects as well. This wasn’t something that she could play with. She didn’t want to play with Santana’s life she wasn’t sure if she would need to take Santana to a hospital or if she could do it. What she knew was that Santana Lopez wasn’t  weak.  There was thing she knew more than anything was that Santana  wasn’t weak. She bites her lip, it was a good thing she knew a doctor, sure Quinn may have been a surgeon but she did go to med school and she knew—doctor people. So she could ask someone. She hadn’t talked to her sister in weeks though and she didn’t really want to deal with a lecture, but Santana’s health was more important to her than getting the chewed out by Quinn. She lets out a shaky breath and makes the call as she lets herself into the house and waits for her twin sister to pick it up.

‘ Charlie? Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to call you for weeks now. I even stopped by your apartment and nobody has seen you. Are you okay—even mom and dad have been trying to get in touch with you. We’ve been worried.’ Quinn said picking it up. She had been terrified that Charlie had relapsed and had overdosed on the floor of some crack den, with a bunch of other drug addicts. 

Charlie pulled the phone away from her ear as the frantic words hit her and she ran a hand through her hair and sighed, she could already feel a headache coming on. She didn’t want to deal with Quinn and she could feel a lecture coming. She wasn’t a child anymore she didn’t need to check in with her family, and she was tired of them just stopping by uninvited. “Quinn, I’m fine. I’m not living in a crack-house. I’ve been staying in a motel in Philadelphia, so I can continue to work on Santana’s basement and help her fix things around the house. I’m also spending time with Bela. Look, save the lecture. Santana’s not feeling well and I’m not sure what to do. Should I take her to the hospital—or when should I take her to the hospital?” 

‘What’s wrong with her? No don’t answer that, with the chemo drugs that she’s been taking it could be a lot of things. You want my opinion, bring her into the city so we Dr. Pillsbury can do an assessment. I mean I can take a look into her file but I’m pretty sure Santana would sue me for that breach, so just—bring her in. I can talk to Dr. Pillsbury to make sure you guys don’t stay long.’  Quinn responds seriously. She didn’t quite understand why Santana refused to do it in Philadelphia. They had excellent hospitals there. Then again even though she found Emma to be weird, but she was the  best at what she did. 

Charlie was quiet, Santana wasn’t going to like being dragged to the hospital but if that’s what it took, to make sure she was feeling better. Maybe she should pull Bela out of school and make a trip out of it, so that they were transparent with her. But she hadn’t actually  seen Santana yet, she wasn’t sure how bad it was. “Okay, I’ll check on her and make sure that she’s okay before I make a decision,” Charlie says after a moment. The thoughts that she had been trying to force aside suddenly start to come to the forefront of her mind. Santana had cancer and could possibly  die . 

‘Okay, Charlie but if she’s running a temperature higher than 100, you need to bring her in no matter what. Make sure she stays hydrated, and she tries to eat something. You need to be proactive with this, her body doesn’t have some of its natural defenses, so this could in theory be bad. Tell me if you’re coming in and I’ll make sure that everything is ready for your arrival. We’ll help her fight this Charlie I promise.’  Quinn said and paused for a moment and bit her lip.  ‘Have you been going to meetings?’

Charlie stiffened at the question for a moment, “Since when did you care that I was going to meetings?” Charlie snaps at Quinn angrily. She was so tired of everyone in her family getting on her case for the drugs. 

‘Before you hang up on me, and start grumbling, I’m asking if you’re going because I don’t want you to slip up. Santana’s sick, like really sick and if something happens to her—look you can’t afford to go back. I don’t know how the meetings make you feel—I never cared to know. But look, talking to someone about this and about everything you’re going through, is a good thing. I don’t want you to throw all your hard work away Charlie. I don’t.’

Charlie frowns it’s the first time that Quinn had ever acknowledged that she was doing something to make sure she didn’t slip, and maybe she should find some AA meetings here. Mike had been bugging her to start going again, he had been trying to talk to her for weeks and she hadn’t had time. Maybe . “Look Quinn, I don’t have time to figure out what your new angle is, or if this is some ploy to let mom and dad have some time with Bela. I don’t care, but I’ll talk to you later, I’m going to see Santana and make sure that she’s okay.” Charlie said with a sigh and ended the call. She exhales as she enters the house and slowly works her way upstairs and knocks on Santana’s bedroom door. She waits for a moment before poking her head inside. “Santana?” She was met with a low groan. 

Santana coughs loudly and groans as she rolls over, even that hurts and her eyelids flutter open, and she groans. The tiny bit of sunlight in her room is making her dizzy, and it feels warm against her skin. She coughs again and sniffles, her nose is running now and she’s glad that her body didn’t fall apart in front of Bela. She would never have convinced her to go to school if that was the case. She eyes Charlie and inwardly flinches, she didn’t want Charlie to see her like this. She didn’t want  anyone to see her like this. “Go away,” she mumbles, her words cutting off as she coughs again. 

Charlie stares at Santana trying to keep the fear off her face, so instead she smiles, because it looks bad—really bad. “I can’t. I promised Bela that I’d be your nurse for today.” Charlie said looking at her phone, where Bela had given her specific instructions and informed her where everything was. The thermometer was in her mother’s bathroom in the top drawer. She loved her daughter. 

Santana groaned and coughed again, “Couldn’t tell,” she groans and buries her face into her pillow and squeezes her eyes shut.  “Next time wear a nurse outfit for me,” she mumbles, not sure if it’s loud enough for Charlie to hear. Laughing at how ridiculous Charlie looks would be a nice way to go out. Years ago that would have been sexy but now—the look doesn’t suit her. Chemo had made her brain fuzzy, and it made her scatterbrained which was why she had been relying on her secretary heavily lately. 

Charlie comes back and moves to the bed and gently nudges Santana, holding the fancy digital thermometer, “You need to open your mouth,” Charlie says gently. “I need to know if you’re okay Santana.” 

Santana groans again and moves her head and opens her mouth a tiny bit, she doesn’t want to be babied but she knew her symptoms. “Just tired,” she mumbles to Charlie the thermometer in her mouth. “Go to work.” Another cough and she’s too tired to cover her mouth and spittle flies into Charlie’s face. “Sorry—”

Charlie wipes her face and shrugs, she didn’t care if Santana vomited on her just as long as she got better, she couldn’t do this without her. She couldn’t take care of Bela without her telling her what to do. The thermometer beeps and she pulls it out of Santana’s mouth as she rubs Santana’s side and then looks at it. 99.7 degrees. It’s close. She glances at Santana for a moment before getting up. “I’m going to get you a popsicle Santana, Quinn said that I have to take you in if it reaches a hundred degrees so let’s try and get your temperature down.” Santana lets out a noise in response and Charlie gets off the bed and puts the thermometer  on the nightstand and heads to the kitchen quickly pulling open the freezer and digging through it, till she notices some Freeze pops at the back of the freezer. She grabs the box and gets a bag of ice just in case, and slips a cloth underneath some cold water so she can make a cold compress for Santana.

 

* * *

“How long has she been asleep? You need to kiss her Charlie—true love’s kiss conquers all.” Bela huffed as she looked at Charlie who had brought a chair up to her mother’s room so she could sit down and monitor Santana. She was getting irritated by that.

Charlie sighed and ran her hand through her hair as she studied her daughter, “Bela, I know that people just—kiss in fairy tales, but you can’t just kiss someone like that in real life. Its assault,” Charlie informed her not noticing that Santana’s eyes had fluttered open and she was now listening to the conversation. “Your mom is going to get better, and we can wait until she wakes up. How about I tell you a story?”

Bela stared at Charlie like she had grown another head she was ten not five, she wasn’t going to be distracted by a story. She pauses for a moment, “Charlie I’m ten and a half!”

Charlie groaned, “How about I help you with your homework while we wait for your mom to wake up? That way we can pass the time and when your mom wakes up maybe we can do something together. Like watch home movies where you—”

“She  showed you! ” Bela asks and Charlie smiles.

“You were a very cute baby and a toddler,” Charlie offers watching as Bela huffs and begins to grumble. 

“Even then she was a bit of a little shit,” Santana mumbles as she watches as both of them turn to her. 

“ Mom! ” Bela said scrambling onto the bed and throwing her arms around her mother and holding her tightly, tears in her eyes as she squeezed her tightly. “Are you feeling better?” 

Santana grunted surprised by her daughter’s strength and shifted, “Bela—can’t breathe,” she groans and immediately felt Bela easing up. She rubs her eyes, and stretches a bit before pressing a kiss on Bela’s forehead. “I told you I’d be here when you got back,” she murmurs against her hugging her daughter back. 

Charlie shifts a bit, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable like she’s intruding on a private moment and gets up to leave. If she leaves now, she could maybe drive to an AA meeting. Santana had always been a light sleeper and watching her just lying there had scared the crap out of her. 

“This isn’t a joke mom—you were really sick!” Bela snaps at her frowning deeply. “I didn’t know if you were going to wake up—” Her voice cracks, she hadn’t been able to concentrate all day and Charlie hadn’t given her updates. 

Charlie watched as Santana floundered not quite sure how to handle it, “It’ll take more than a cold to take out your mom Bela.” Charlie says looking at Santana and flashing her a small smile. 

Santana swallows a bit and puts on a brave smile when Bela turns to look at her, today had been shitty. It was still shitty and she was afraid the worst was yet to come. She wasn’t sure how much longer she was going to fight this. Just two more sessions to go, and she was done. “Just two more sessions to go,” then she would find out if it worked. If they could take the damn organ out of her body. After that they’d monitor her, but she just wanted all this to be over with. One way or the other.

**  
  
**


	22. Chapter 22

We aren't saying you can change him   
'Cause people don't really change   
We're only saying that love's a force that's powerful and strange   
People make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed   
But throw a little love their way, and you'll bring out their best   
True love brings out the best

Santana covered her head with her pillow grumbling as she did so, wondering if she should just go into her daughter’s room and toss out whatever device was playing that infernal song on a loop. Her daughter took passive aggressive to a  whole new level. She wasn’t even subtle about it. She doubted that Bela understood what the word subtle meant. 

Santana sighed, what made the entire situation worse was that Bela wasn’t exactly wrong. Charlie needed a fixing up, just like her basement, which Charlie had all but finished. She had been surprised at how good it looked now. Charlie had even put in some upgrades to make the place even better. She had also done a lot of other things around the house, fixing her cabinets, Bela was talking about painting her room a different color—it was like Charlie was trying to fix everything in the world except herself. So she was going to  fix her, she was going to fix Charlie up. It was of course in the best interest of Isabela. “ Bela ! Will you turn that racket off?” She yelled at her daughter. 

It took a moment before the music was switched off, causing her to let out a sigh of relief. But it was quickly followed by the sound of footsteps and her door opening a crack. “Mom?” Bela asked as she poked her head into the room. Seeing that her mother looked to be awake she opened the door and walked in and made her way to her mother’s spacious bed and climbed in so she cuddle with her. “What were you thinking about?” 

“That damn song that you kept playing over and over again,” Santana snipes gently at her daughter who grins and curls up beside her. With a sigh Santana puts an arm around her pulling her close. After being bedridden for the past couple of days Bela had been attached at her hip as of late. 

“We should watch Frozen!” Bela grinned when her mom gave her a look. “Come on mom—I don’t see what the problem is. Why is it so hard to try and believe?” 

“I’d rather put my faith in modern medicine than Charlie’s lips,” Santana responds as she turns on her television. “She was never  that great of a kisser anyway.” A lie, a big one but Bela doesn’t seem to notice. “Bela, have you actually thought this through. If anything does happen to me, the courts will place you with Charlie and if it doesn’t work you’re going to blame her for not being the love of my life. Charlie and I broke up for a very good reason and you do need to respect that. Besides Charlie doesn’t love me anymore.”

“Yes she does, I asked her and she told me she does. She doesn’t  lie to me.” Bela pulled away from her mother so she could look at her carefully, and she could  swear that she saw something flicker across Santana’s face. “I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

Santana closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, of course Charlie still loved her, but there were different types of love. It was an idea that seemed to be above Bela. Charlie wasn’t the same person that she remembered and she knew that ten years had changed her quite a bit. “Bela, I need you to understand that to be truly in love with someone, you need to know them. You need to understand them, you need to trust them with every fiber of your being. It doesn’t happen in a couple of days, it doesn’t happen in a couple of weeks. And you need to know that we both love you very much, I know Charlie’s only known you for a few months but she loves you probably as much as I do. But having a child together isn’t a reason to be together in that sense. It is a reason to be friends though, and that’s what we are. More or less. I do care deeply for Charlie, I will always care deeply for her and I know she feels the same way.”

“You and Charlie spend a  lot of time together—” Bela begins trying to convince her mother. 

“I spend a lot of time with your aunt Brittany as well. She takes me to all of my chemotherapy sessions, and stays there with me. She comes to work with me sometimes Bela, I love her and care for her deeply as well. That doesn’t mean that we’re supposed to be together.” Santana cuts her daughter off.  

Bela huffed and flopped onto the bed. She wasn’t going to give up, if she needed to lock her parents in a room together she would until they admitted that they loved each other. She tries to grab the remote from her mom who immediately holds it out of her reach and she lets out a soft whine. “I want to watch Frozen!” 

“No! No more shows where they solve every god damn problem with a kiss. It’s completely unrealistic and it warps your sense of reality. We’re going to watch Ellen, and you’re going to sit there and laugh at all her jokes.” Santana said watching as her daughter whined. She smirked, it was time to get her Ellen on whether Bela liked it or not. 

 

* * *

Charlie tossed her tools into her truck and stretched as she pulled off her gloves, she had finished building the garden for Santana, now all she needed to do was grab some fresh fertilizer and Santana and Bela could start planting. Then she’d ask if Santana needed anything else done before she finished up with the basement. It was only after three which meant she had plenty of time. She was about to head to the hose to wash her hands when she noticed Santana standing on the porch a scowl on her face. It was just the two of them today Bela had gone to a friend’s house to play, but she had kept mostly to herself and let her ex-girlfriend rest. “Santana?” 

Santana waved a piece of paper at Charlie who approached her cautiously. “Your daughter  won’t give up. Telling me to smile because you like my damned smile.” Santana said shoving the paper into Charlie’s chest angrily. “I blame myself, Disney is not what any parent should be raising their goddamn kids on. I thought hey what’s the harm in watching princess movies? I’ve fucking learned my lesson.” 

Charlie took the paper and glanced at it. “She’s been doing this to you too?” Charlie asks. “She gives me lectures all the time about how to be the savior.”

“I should have sent her to summer camp,” Santana said grumbling. “Let the mosquitos get her.” She sighed and looked at Charlie who was covered in a white powder, “What are you doing?” 

“I finished building you a place where you and Bela could garden, she mentioned that you had made plans to garden with her this year, but you know—” Charlie trails off and rubs the back of her neck. 

Santana blinked, it was far more work than she was going to do. She had been content to just let Charlie do what she thought was best and needed to be fixed around the house. It was one thing she couldn’t deal with and having Charlie deal with it seemed like a good idea. “I was just going to dig in the dirt and plant crap,” Santana admits and watches as a crooked smile appears on Charlie’s face. Santana shifts for a momenta and glances down at the paper in Charlie’s hand and then back at Charlie. Her daughter was a little shit. “Now back to the problem at hand— your daughter. You need to get a girlfriend, that way she can finally leave me alone about kissing you. Like that’s going to magically solve all my problems.” 

Charlie stared at Santana, she was getting worked up again and she shifts ready to catch her if she felt faint. “No?” 

“What do you  mean no?” Santana hisses at Charlie who takes a step back. She closes her eyes and exhales. “Okay Brittany is available—”

Charlie’s nose crinkles. “The crazy cat lady who I’m allergic to?” 

Santana grimaces, “You’re right, but we need to find you  someone . Let’s go online and set you up a profile on a popular dating website. E-Harmony? They have all those ads on television.” 

“Santana—I’m not—I don’t want to have an online profile. I’m not really good at  dating .” Charlie said holding her hands up. 

“Bullshit.” Santana said immediately. “You were charming and witty and you weren’t terrible to look at, you had girls all over you and you know it. You’re still not terrible to look at, I’ve seen your arms, just flex those and the ladies will swoon. We just need to remind you of the other two parts. But you’re going to need to wear something other than what you’re wearing. Do you still have those suits of yours?” 

“I don’t—think so? I mean even if I did, I don’t think they’d fit.” Charlie points out and Santana looks at her causing her to shift.

“Right, so it’s been eight years. You’re going to need some practice. Maybe a decent haircut, definitely some clothes. You know all the stuff you  used to do to get women all over you.” Santana informs Charlie bluntly. “Do you have anything that doesn’t that doesn’t have  paint on it?” Santana asks.

“No?” 

Santana stops and looks at Charlie and then crinkles her nose. “Okay that’s a problem, we’ll start with the clothes. Let’s go shopping. My treat—don’t argue. It’s the least I can do for all the work you’ve put into the house. Then we’ll go to dinner and we can do a pretend date. So I can see what I’m working with. So I’ll fix that and then we’ll put you up on E-harmony.” She holds her hands up, “You  can’t argue with me I’m sick.” 

“You’re going to milk that whole sick thing aren’t you?”

“Damn  straight I am,” Santana said. “Let me go grab my purse, and don’t you  dare think about running.” 

 


	23. Chapter 23

Santana watched as Charlie fidgeted, tapping her foot, playing with the hems of the suit that she was wearing and wringing her hands. Charlie was nervous, that was obvious, but for the life of her she couldn’t exactly figure out why. Charlie had  always looked good in her expensive pantsuits, and now that she had lost weight and toned up quite a bit, the pantsuits fit her even better. It wasn’t as if Charlie hadn’t gotten appreciative looks from women as they walked into the restaurant, but the fidgeting seemed to be a bit of a turn off. “So this is what’s going to happen. We’re going to pretend that this is a date, and that I don’t know you. Just do what you normally do on dates, and I’ll go over what you need to work on.” 

Charlie swallowed and tugged on the hem of her jacket, it was hot in here. To hot, she didn’t wear suit jackets anymore. She didn’t really wear  suits anymore. The fancy clothing felt odd on her body, not that it didn’t fit. Santana had insisted that it fit her a bit too well. She was sure she looked fine in the outfit. It was just that it felt wrong. She didn’t belong in nice clothing. It made her feel like a fraud. “Santana—I don’t think this is a good idea,” Charlie mumbles to her quietly. This felt weird and pretending to go on a date with Santana was blurring the lines. She had managed to convince herself that Santana  could never love her. 

“It’s not just a good idea, it’s a  perfect idea.” Santana says briskly, deciding to ignore Charlie’s protests. “You’re going to date, and I’d like to know that you’d found someone that Bela could in theory accept as a maternal figure. She can play in dirt, and still want a manicure Charlie and those things even ten years ago never interested you. Well the playing in dirt thing clearly stuck, but I mean over all, and unfortunately you’re allergic to Brittany.”

“I’m sure there are shots for that,” Charlie mumbled, and took a step away from Santana. “I get it—you want to make sure that Bela is surrounded by people who can help her grow. I just don’t know  why you want me to start dating again. People aren’t interested—I’m not interested.”

“You can’t start the evening by fishing for compliments Charlie, now pretend that you don’t know me. Introduce yourself like this was the first time we’re  meeting . And you’re  going to need to stop fidgeting.” Santana reaches for Charlie’s handing holding it still as the waiter comes to seat them. “Alright, exactly like this is a first date for you.” Santana let go of her hand and watched as Charlie moved clumsily to her side of the table. “Hi, I’m Santana, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Santana extended her hand forward and watched as Charlie immediately stuck her hand out, hitting one of the glass cups that was on the table. The glass teetered and Charlie immediately grabbed it and set it down. Santana blinked, and turned to Charlie. This date was already going terribly and if Charlie was this clumsy in front of other women, it was already sending some odd messages, but it wasn’t a date killer. People were clumsy and she looked nervous, some women might even find that cute.

“Hi—I’m Charlie, and I’m a recovering drug addict.” Charlie forced a smile onto her face and shook Santana’s outstretched hand, ignoring the shocked look on Santana’s face. Santana had said to treat this like all of her dates, which was exactly what she was going to do. She takes her seat and immediately picks up the menu to let her date digest the information and to give them time to leave.

Well that certainly explained why Charlie hadn’t had any sort of steady girlfriend in ten years. Hearing someone say that, on the first date as they introduced themselves to you, was a  death knoll for a second date. So was this hiding behind a menu thing that she was currently doing, she could understand why women didn’t want to take the time to get to know her, if this had been a real date where she hadn’t known Charlie she’d be waiting patiently until the dinner date ended before heading home. She wouldn’t even let her near Bela. Santana exhales slowly but she was going to see this through to the very end and actually try and engage Charlie who was doing this on purpose even if it was a subconscious thing. “When you say recovering how long does that mean?” Santana asks and Charlie glances up at her surprised by the question. 

“Ten years now,” the response was mumbled and Charlie immediately began to fidget again not liking the questions. “What do you do—I mean as a job? I’m a contractor, I do renovations and stuff.”

Renovations and stuff, she was really selling herself short. She had taken a look at the basement and it looked better than it had before.  The garden was beautiful to, even if she  hadn’t  planted anything in it, the whole thing was simply stunning, and it didn’t take up that much space. She wanted to keep Charlie around and see what she thought about renovating her bathroom and her kitchen, and maybe Bela’s room as well. “Law, I’m a lawyer. Civil litigation mostly, but really I’m more of a PR person. I clean up other people’s images, it’s a pain in the ass most days. People need to realize that if you don’t know how the internet works you shouldn’t take a picture of your dick, or naked photos. Certainly none with your face in them. I don’t know why people insist on sending naked photos with their face in them.” 

“Is that what you deal with most of the time? Dick pictures?” Charlie asks a smile crossing her face as she leans in to listen to Santana talk.

“That’s what it feels like most of the time,” Santana admits and blinks suddenly aware of what Charlie had done shifting the attention to her. She shifts and her lips quirk up in a smile. The old Charlie was still in there buried under whatever insecurities, and nervous ticks she seemed to have developed. She’d just need to dig a bit to get past her carefully crafted walls, and if anyone knew how to get under Charlie’s skin it was her. “So did you go to group meetings?”

Charlie immediately shifted and picked up her menu, she would rather talk about what Santana did then talk about herself. “I still go, well not lately but I’ve been busy,” she admits as Santana reaches forward and places a hand on her menu. 

“Well how often did you go?” Santana pressed. 

“Nearly every day for eight years, they have meetings all over the city, on different days at different times. So I just sort of got into the habit of going every day.” Charlie admits and Santana stares at her, causing her to shift uncomfortably. “I do other things too,” Charlie admits quickly suddenly realizing how it sounded. “I go for runs sometimes, and I read and build stuff.” Charlie slowly stops talking she feels embarrassed all of a sudden. Her life wasn’t all that interesting, there were no fancy cars anymore, no more money. She didn’t go drinking with the guys or go to parties, she just sort of lived in whatever apartment that had a minimal amount of stuff in it that she could easily pack and move when she needed to. Rachel was right, she was agoraphobic.  Maybe she should join some sort of class, or something. 

“What do you build?” Santana asks, Charlie looks up at her and the look is back, this is uncomfortable for her, but Charlie’s comfort zone was so small these days it wasn’t difficult, no wonder she had quit dating. “I mean are we talking Lego? Because if we are I have you to thank for Bela’s Lego obsession when she was a child. Do you know how expensive those damn blocks are? She wasn’t even very good at following the damn instructions.” She needed Charlie to not say birdhouses, because if she did she was going to force an intervention.

“Stuff,” Charlie mumbles and looks around for the waiter. She pulls on the collar of her shirt, but the waitress seems to be busy with another table and she sinks in her chair. 

“Oh god you make something lame like bird houses, I  knew it .” Santana said and Charlie turned to her. She was pressing she knew she was but Charlie  needed to talk to her, or at least someone. 

“No not birdhouses,” Charlie tugs on her collar again, it’s hot in here. “I just build stuff that I think is cool. I give most of it away though. I was thinking of doing something like that with Bela but she thinks I’m sort of lame as it is.” 

“She’s ten years old, she thinks all adults are lame.” Santana pointed out. “I think it’d be good for her, what were you thinking of making with her? Maybe I can sit back and watch.”

“Oh um, I know she likes video games so I was thinking of making one of those you know old arcade cabinets that can play old school arcade games, but you don’t need to put in any money. I mean it’s going to take a bit of research but, I just think she’d like it. I mean she likes the play thing I got for her right?” Charlie frowned and scratched her cheek. “Puck thought it might be a fun project to do with her, and it’s summer—” Charlie trails off.  “She doesn’t think you’re lame, she thinks everyone is lame compared to you,” Charlie flashes her a small smile. 

“Charlie, that’s a  perfect idea.” Santana says and Charlie frowns. “It’s  summer vacation and I didn’t send her to some far off camp because I don’t trust random ass teenagers who get paid minimum wage to take care of Bela. Which means that I’m stuck finding ways for her to be entertained. Stuff that we used to do is now  lame , cause she’s a little shit who is growing up too fast.” 

“Do you think she’ll be into it?” Charlie asks with a serious look on her face. “I mean it’s not going to be like the best graphic wise or anything but we could always just give it to Puck, he’d probably love it if she doesn’t want it. I mean she already says I’m old and lame like all the time.”

“She’s a ten year old Charlie, of course you’re old and lame. But if you have a bit of enthusiasm and use a bit of reverse psychology, and have flashing lights then I’m sure you can convince her to help you out. And who the fuck knows she might actually learn to follow the damn instructions once in awhile instead of skipping steps and hoping that it works.” Santana smirks. “She’s ten years old, she has the attention span of well—a ten year old. Have fun with that.” 

Charlie blinked suddenly getting the feeling she had been suckered into something, “Wait—“

“I’m sorry for the wait, can I take your order please?” The waitress asked interrupting them. “Are you ready to order or do you need more time?” 

“I’ll have a salad please, with the dressing on the side and just water please,” Santana said turning to Charlie.

“Uh the same,” Charlie said with a nod and turned to Santana who gave her a strange look. 

“I thought you would have a steak or something, you never willing ate a salad before,” Santana shifts and narrows her eyes. She turns to the waitress. “She’ll have a steak.” 

“Santana!” Charlie grumbles and she’s met with a smile and she shifts. The feeling that his is a bad idea hits her again as Santana lets out a small laugh. “I eat salads now and I run sometimes, if I have time—”

“Whoa Bela was right, you did get boring in your old age,” Santana teases watching as Charlie flushes. This feels normal and nice and she’s enjoying it. It was different, Charlie was different and maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. “So how would you go about building this arcade thing?” 

Charlie blinked and smiled at Santana. “Oh well, I’d have to order the buttons and joystick online, but I have some wood lying around and we can paint it. But basically we’d just need one of these Raspberry Pi things some wires—” Charlie began going into detail a pleased smile on her face as she explained the process.

It was like how she used to talk about numbers, that same passion was there, it just had moved on. Still there was a lot going on under the hood. “You know, in the beginning I thought that you were sort of hopeless, the fidgeting the self-sabotage. But you’re still you Charlie and I know that you can get a woman if you really wanted to. Maybe you just weren’t meeting the type of women who wanted to dig down deep.”  Santana shrugs. “Don’t worry though we’ll find you someone—”

“Why not you?” The words come out of her mouth and then Charlie blinks and claps her hand over her mouth as Santana turns to her. “I’m sorry—I just—this just feels like a date—”

“It’s supposed to, this is a  fake date,” Santana said defensively pulling back. “Charlie I understand that Bela has this idea that we could try again and everything will magically turn out fine but we’re not children anymore. We know it doesn’t work like that, a kiss isn’t going to fix everything. It isn’t going to  erase our past. It’s not—this isn’t a date.”

She’s right, she knows that Santana is right, but her brain and this setting aren’t helping with her thoughts. “I know, I’m sorry for bringing it up,” Charlie said quickly trying to smoothen things over. Santana wasn’t interested and that was the end of that. 

Santana sighs, “I want to say it’s not you it’s me, but our history is beyond complicated. Then there’s the small fact that I’m  dying Charlie.” Santana said and held up her hand. “I am, I can feel it in my bones, and my Mexican third eye is  never wrong.” She shrugs her shoulders and looks away. “I want to make sure that you’re the person that Bela needs you to be. I need you to swear to me that when it gets tough, and it will that you won’t—”

“I won’t,” Charlie promises reaching over to take Santana’s hand. She  wanted to say that Santana was  wrong that her Mexican Third Eye had been wrong before, that she was going to live. But she can’t, because what if Santana wasn’t wrong. What if she did die? 

Santana watched Charlie for a moment, she could see the war going on in Charlie’s mind. She could see the flash of horror as Charlie finally realized that she probably wasn’t going to get better, and she forces a smile onto her lips. “Okay,” she brings her hands down on the table causing Charlie to look up at her. “Let me pay for the bill and let’s get out of here, this is getting way to sad for a fake date and you look like you’re about to cry and that’d be embarrassing. I haven’t made a girl cry on a date in years.” Santana said reaching for her wallet, the she watches as Charlie’s hand goes to her eyes to try and rub away any tears. Her tone is cheerful and upbeat and she gets up to go see if they can have their order to go and pay for dinner. 

Charlie rubbed her head, this was how most of her dates ended anyway, but they still had a long awkward car ride together because Santana had driven her to the restaurant. She begins to fidget again as Santana pays and the food is brought out in to-go containers and reaches and carries them to the car and slides into the passenger seat as Santana gets into the driver’s seat. “Are you scared?” Charlie asked and then crinkled her nose. “I’m sorry that was a stupid question,” Charlie mumbles. She was scared.

Santana plants her hand on the steering wheel, and stares ahead, the fake cheer and false smiles disappearing. “I’m fucking terrified.” Santana swallows. “I’m fucking terrified Charlie. I don’t want to die. I wanted to grow old so I could be a bitch to everyone and they’d just laugh it off because I’m old. I wanted to see Bela grow up and go to college, and graduate, and get married to someone she knew I didn’t really approve of. I wanted to be like my parents bitching about more grandkids.” Santana grips the steering wheel even tighter. “I didn’t ever think that I’d be alone if something like this happened. I love Brittany and she’s been helpful, but I thought that I’d have a partner. I can’t put all this on Bela, I can’t put all of this on Brittany even though she wants me to, and that’s the worst part about this. I’m alone and I’m fucking terrified.”

“You’re not alone,” Charlie says reaching for Santana’s hand. “I get it, you and I aren’t ever going to be anything but I can help. I get it, sort of, I mean yeah it was a design of my own making, but I know what it feels like to know that you’re going to die alone.” Charlie squeezed Santana’s hand. “So, I’ll be there for you. I don’t live far so if you need to talk to me, any time if you need anything call me and I’ll be there. You don’t have to do this alone.” 

Santana swallows and doesn’t say anything, because she doesn’t want to start bawling in front of Charlie. So she flashes Charlie a smile and moves to start her car, driving the two of them back to her place in relative silence. She glances at Charlie discretely every time she could, if things were different, then maybe—no. It was better not to think that way. She sighs as she parks her car in the driveway. It’s a rare day where she doesn’t feel absolutely wrecked at the end of the day. Maybe she could actually do something tonight. She gets out of the car and watches as Charlie quickly transfers all of the stuff that she had bought for her into her truck even her paint covered jeans and shirt. She had tried to convince the store clerk to burn them when Charlie wasn’t looking but apparently they didn’t do that anymore. “Well goodnight,” Santana said looking at Charlie as she heads towards the entrance to her house. 

Charlie is about to say goodnight when she remembers that she was still holding Santana’s salad, and moves to give it to her. Hopping up the steps as Santana fumbles for her key. “You forgot dinner,” Charlie reminded her causing her to nearly drop the keys in surprise. The whole thing is awkward, maybe she overstepped earlier today but she needed to get it back on a safe topic. “I know you’re worried about Bela, but you did a really great job with her. Thank you for letting me be a part of her life again, I promise I won’t—”

She doesn’t really know why she leans in to kiss Charlie, but she does and it’s a mistake, she knows it is. But she had definitely been lying to Bela when she informed her that Charlie was a terrible kisser. She still very much had it. This was a terrible idea, but she was dying of cancer. She needed to have a bit of fun before she died and Charlie even at her worst had been a lot of fun. It was just one night. What was the harm?

**  
  
  
  
**


	24. Chapter 24

Santana slowly traced the tally marks on Charlie’s side, it was a distraction to keep her guilt at bay. She was dying, she should be able to sleep with an ex-girlfriend without feeling shitty about it. It wasn’t that the sex was terrible. No, it had been infuriatingly good. Whatever Charlie’s demons were, she still seemed to remember nearly  everything about her body. How she liked it, how fast to go, when to slow down. It had felt good, she felt good, but the guilt was eating at her. She was  dying , and Charlie still had feelings for her, what made the situation complicated was that having Charlie around was something that she had always wanted, because maybe she hadn’t exactly dealt with any residual feelings that she had for her ex-girlfriend.

A mother was supposed to sacrifice  everything for her child, and she had done that without second thought. But there had always been the hope that Charlie would get clean again. Because Charlie sober, even with her ego, had been close to perfect. But Charlie while high had been a nightmare, had been abusive, and had been a monster. Which was why she had needed to leave, Charlie had broken promise after promise to get clean, and she had chosen Bela’s safety,  her safety over making sure Charlie got the help she needed. She had thought that Charlie would find her again, in a few weeks. But weeks turned to months and months turned to years. There had been a lot of late nights, dirty diapers, vomit, a nasty bout of the chickenpox, more vomit, lots of snot, potty-training had been a nightmare, all of this while trying to finish up law school and pass the bar. Sure she had help, her mother and abuela had been a godsend when it came to Bela, so had Brittany.

Maybe she had watched those stupid Disney movies with Bela, and wanted her own knight to show up. No that wasn’t quite right, she hadn’t needed Charlie to save her, she had needed her  partner back. That’s what Charlie had been. Her partner. They were supposed to have taken on the world together. Ten years, and it took her little hell-spawn to find Charlie and bring her back.

Santana paused, her little hell-spawn.  Bela , couldn’t find them like this. It would confuse her, or she’d get her hopes up over a one night stand. She glanced at her alarm clock it was nearly ten thirty, and she cursed Charlie for keeping her up late. Bela was due back any moment. “ Charlie ,” Santana hissed smacking her hard in side. She was rewarding with Charlie rolling over and pulling on the blanket. Santana blinked and picked up her pillow and smacked Charlie upside the head. “ Wake up and get dressed. Bela will be home any moment and she is  not going to find you butt naked in my bed.” Charlie finally began to stir when she heard the front door slam shut, and for once she was glad that Bela liked make herself known. “ Hide! ” Santana hissed.

Charlie yawned and scratched her messy blonde hair, still slightly out of it. “No, I’m an adult,” Charlie said about to flop back onto the bed, she was exhausted and yawned. She wasn’t a teenager. “It’s  Bela —we’ll just explain—” Charlie’s eyes snap open and she looks at Santana who is giving her a look, while trying to strain her ears to see where her daughter was in the house. “ Fuck ,” Charlie hissed. She threw the covers over her and glanced around the room grabbing her shirt and her boxers and stumbling as she slipped them on.

“Mom?” Bela’s voice came through the door. “Are you okay?”

Santana turned to Charlie who looked around before diving under her bed. She face-palmed, this was a disaster and she  really  didn’t want to have this conversation with Bela. It was too early and she was exhausted, but in the good way. “Hold on Bela, I need to get my robe it got hot last night,” Santana called out and headed to her bathroom kicking Charlie’s clothes under the bed and grabbing Charlie’s phone and turning it to vibrate before sliding it across her floor until it went under her bed and she was sure she heard Charlie grabbing it. Santana grabs her red robe and slips it on, and heads straight to the door, and opens it for her daughter.

Bela eyes her mother and crinkles her nose, the only time that she saw her mom wearing the red robe was when Dani had spent the night. “Dani’s not here is she? Because she’s a villain and Charlie’s truck is outside, but I can’t find her.”

“No Dani isn’t here and honestly I don’t know what Charlie’s up to. She might be on the roof or in the attic. How was your sleepover? Do you need me to make you something to eat that isn’t processed sugar or bacon?” Santana asked her daughter moving to leave her bedroom and closing the door to let Charlie figure out  how to get of this situation without Bela being the wiser.

“You know, since Charlie’s here, you should totally show some more skin,” Bela said and Santana whipped her head to her daughter. “Tracey’s mom said that’s the easiest way to draw a moth to the flame.”

“And that’s the last time you spend the night at Tracey’s house,” Santana said closing her robe tighter. She was beginning to regret talking to her daughter about sex at an early age, but with the way technology was changing she  needed to make sure that Bela understood the dangers of being an idiot with a phone. “Bela you want people to like you for who you are, not how beautiful you look, and  definitely not how much skin you show.”

“You mean like how you love Charlie?” Bela prodded.

Santana paused for a moment, “Charlie could use with showing a bit more skin,” Santana said and Bela made a face and rolled her eyes, causing Santana to laugh. The smile on her fades when there is a thud that comes from her room and Santana groans inwardly.

Bela turns back to her mother’s room and then glances at her mother suspiciously. Her mother was hiding something from her. She would have asked but her mother but she didn’t expect the  truth from her. She immediately rushes to her mother’s bedroom door only to have the door open and Charlie open the door, wiping her hands on a hand towel. “I fixed the leak in your bathroom,” Charlie said flicking her eyes to shot her a look.

Bela blinked and looked at her mother and then at Charlie and poked the dark pants that she was wearing that didn’t have any paint on it. Neither did her shirt and she stared at Charlie, it was about the cleanest that she had ever seen her. “Did someone die?” Bela asked abruptly and looked at her mother. “Why are you all dressed up?”

Charlie hesitates and looks up at Santana who makes a face and then nods. “I had a date last night—sort of,” Charlie admits truthfully. She’s met with a horrified look from Bela who looks at her.

“What do you mean you went on a date? You’re not supposed to go on dates Charlie.” Bela said and then turned around to look at her mother and then grabbed Charlie’s arm and attempted to tug her away, but Charlie didn’t budge. Bela frowned at this and looked at her mother who was watching the two of them and tugged on Charlie’s arm so she could at least whisper her question in her ear. Charlie finally bent down a bit so she could. “What are you doing Charlie? You  know  my mom is prettier than whoever she is! She just wants you to show more skin so show her your boobs or something, Tracey’s mom says that’s  really important .”

Charlie flushed and pulled away from her daughter and looked at Santana. “Bela, I don’t think—um—that’s not very good advice.”

“Tracey’s mom?” Santana asks and Charlie nods. “Yep you’re definitely not spending the night there again.” Santana said with a roll of her eyes. “Bela, let’s let Charlie go home and change and then you two can start working on the project that Charlie wanted to do with you.”

Bela blinked and turned to Charlie. “What project?”

Charlie rubs the back of her neck. “Oh, have you ever been to an arcade?” Charlie asks.

“One of my friends had a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese,” Bela said and thought about it. “Are you going to build me an arcade?”

“Well, I guess we can start with—” Charlie begins and she feels Bela grabbing her arm again and tugging her forward, causing her to stumble forward.

“I’m going to be the coolest kid in  school , where are we going to put it? Maybe in the basement? Are we going to use power tools? Can I use them?”

“No,” Santana said immediately, “You’ll lose a finger, or a hand or something.” This wasn’t a knock on Charlie’s parenting abilities but Bela was entering her awkward stage and she didn’t need any accidents happening.

“Well what am I supposed to do then?” Bela demanded. She didn’t want to just stand around and watch Charlie work.

“Well—I was thinking that I could get you a couple of cans of spray paint and you could paint the wood and make the designs on it.” Charlie said and she winced when Santana shot her a glare, she wasn’t going to be winning with either of them. “She’ll wear a mask!”

“You’re teaching my daughter how to  graffiti !”

“Why is she only my daughter when she’s doing something bad?” Charlie asked and Santana gave her a dry look. “Right, silly question. You can’t keep the spray cans, you have to give them back to me, and you’re not allowed to use them on public property. But maybe I can get you some wood so you can practice on it. But you  have to use the mask that I’m going to get you—”

“And protective eyewear,” Santana adds crossing her arms over her chest.

“ Mom .” Bela whines and looks at Charlie. “Tell her I don’t have to! I don’t want to be  lame! ”

“And the eyewear. Don’t worry we’ll get you a cool gas mask,” Charlie said and a massive grin appeared on Bela’s face. Charlie turns to Santana, about to offer to grab her one, they could make this into a bit of a family project, she’s about to ask when her phone starts buzzing and she immediately fishes it out of her pocket. She frowns and is about to ignore the call and stuffs it into her pocket. She didn’t want to talk to her parents, she was quite content to ignore them for the rest of her life if she could. She turns her attention back to Santana, “You can help, if you want. I can pick up a mask for you as well—” her phone rang again, and Charlie shifted a bit trying to ignore the vibrations. “And we can make it together. I can show you how to use the power tools.”

Santana was about to say there was no way in hell she was going to possibly lose a limb when Bela grins widely and nudges Charlie who turns to her. “She accepts. You’re smoother than I thought you were.”

“What do you know about smoothness?” Santana challenges and is rewarded with a shrug from her daughter. She was definitely going to need to monitor the Netflix account, because it was obvious that Bela was watching far too many fairy tales, and far too many romantic comedies. It was clearly having a negative effect on her daughter, one which she  needed to—a buzzing sound filled the space on the stairs and Santana flicked her eyes over to Charlie who flushed. “They aren’t going to stop calling you so why don’t you just answer it Charlie?” 

Santana’s right and she knew her parents well enough to know that this conversation wasn’t just going to go away. “Hey,” Charlie says quietly turning around so she could end this call. They’d been asking non-stop if she wanted to come over for dinner. She didn’t.  

Bela frowned and looked at her mother, “Who is that?” she asked her keeping her voice down.

Santana frowned and gently thumped Bela on the head. “I didn’t raise you to be a nosy little snot,” she reminded her daughter and was rewarded with a dry look.

“Yeah, you sort of did,” Bela replies and takes a step away from her mother as she rubs the top of her head.

“Mom—I don’t—” Charlie began closing her eyes.

“Is she talking to my grandparents?” Bela asked turning to Santana who groans. “Beth said that they’re the best grandparents ever!” 

Charlie turns to look at Bela for a moment, and sighs wincing at the excited look on her face. “I’ll think about it. I’ve got to go now.” She ends the call quickly and rubs her arm as she looks at Santana and then Bela, who were both giving her expectant looks. “They invited me to come for a family barbeque that they are having today but I’d much rather do stuff with the two of you, so let me just go get dressed from the change of clothes in my truck and we can go to Lowes, and Best Buy, and maybe an electronics place. I can order the parts that we can’t find online and we’d have to stop by a paint store—” Charlie sighed as her phone went off again. Here it came, the barrage of her family trying to get in touch with her. Quinn probably wanted a confirmation. 

“They still do that?” Santana asked curiously though there was an amused smile on her face. It was such a Fabray thing to do to get into each other’s business so quickly. Charlie makes a face and nods and she watches as Bela glances between the two of them. “Fine, we might as well go this time so they’ll leave us alone.”

Charlie blinks a bit floored by this, “Are you sure? I mean—they’re my parents,” Charlie reminded her. 

“Yeah, we might as well. I don’t want them to show up to Bela’s school and try and take her home with them. Might as well do this in a relatively controlled environment,” Santana said with another shrug.  Besides going shopping with Charlie and Bela while it would probably be fun, it would also be tiring. 

Bela studied Charlie, she didn’t look thrilled at the idea and moved to give her a hug, wrapping her arms around her. “If they say anything mean, we can just go right?”

Charlie hesitates for a moment, it’s not like her parents had a dungeon. At least she hoped not, that would be weird and possibly gross but she hugs Bela back. Santana had raised an amazing caring child, who probably cared way too much. “If they say anything that makes you uncomfortable or you don’t like we’ll go.” Charlie says looking at both of them. She doesn’t want to go but if her family did then she would just sit in the background and watch them. This wasn’t about her, this was about Bela.  Charlie’s quiet for a moment and then sighs, “You’re going to need a bathing suit,” she said finally pulling away from Bela, who broke out into a smile. Charlie turned her attention to Santana who immediately shook her head no. They still needed to talk about last night and what it meant, but she wasn’t going to push it. “You don’t have to wear a bathing suit if you don’t want to. I don’t even think I have one.” 

Bela who was about to race into her room stopped and stared at Charlie. “You  have to wear a bathing suit Charlie! How else are you going to show mom some skin?” 

Santana burst out laughing as Charlie turned a deep red. “Yeah Charlie, you  have to wear a bathing suit so I can see some skin,” she teased shaking her head. 

 


	25. Chapter 25

“ This is where your parents live?” Bela asked moving to the window to look out at the mansion, it had been a very long car ride. She doesn’t notice Charlie’s wince or her mother reaching over to pat Charlie’s hand. “It’s  huge ! And they have a pool and a  beach ! Is that their own private beach? This place is so  awesome . Is this where you grew up?”

“Yeah,” Charlie admits after a moment and then rubs her arm as she gets up. “Now it’s their summer home, my dad is semi-retired, so they spend winters down in Florida or Mexico—or somewhere, I don’t really know.” Charlie rubs her arm and pops the door to her truck open and looks around, maybe they should have taken Santana’s SUV it at least fit in better than her old beat up truck. 

“So I can see your room?” Bela asked practically vibrating with excitement and pulling out her phone. No one was going to believe her at school unless she had pictures with her. 

“I don’t know,” Charlie said as she helped Santana out of the car and grabbed the duffel bag that held some spare clothes for Bela and Santana in case they needed it. She didn’t really plan on joining the festivities, but maybe her mother needed something around the house done that she could work on, to keep her mind calm and stop her from going to a dark place. 

Santana placed a hand on Bela to calm her down. “Bela, I know that they’re your grandparents, and like my parents they will probably give you a lot of gifts, so say thank you and be polite,” It had taken her forever to convince her parents to stop buying completely impractical gifts for Bela whenever they visited. She’d make sure that Charlie had a talk about spoiling Bela. She didn’t need a bunch of new things.  “And these are your grandparent’s things, I don’t want to hear you bragging to your friends that you were here. It’s none of their business and it’s not like  you earned this stuff.” There was nothing more irritating at work then to watch spoiled rich kids who hadn’t worked a day in their life showing off all their expensive stuff on social media. 

Bela flushed a bit and put her phone away immediately and shrank back a bit, “Sorry mom,” she mumbles and watches as Charlie heads to the bed of her truck and grabs her tool belt. “What are you doing?” 

Charlie glanced at Bela and smiled, “Seeing if they need a bit of work done around the house,” Charlie admits, pulling a hoodie from the bed of the truck, her parents liked to keep things freezing in the house and it was for if she got cold. “You can have fun with Beth, and my parents. They  really want to meet you and I know they’re super excited to see you.” Her words have their intended effect on Bela who grins and nods at her now interested in exploring the mansion and the grounds in front of her. Charlie flicked her eyes at Santana and forced a smile onto her lips. “Just call me when you’re ready to leave,” Charlie said motioning that she had her phone on her and Santana eyes her for a moment before nodding. Charlie sighs and attaches her tool belt before taking making her way to the door and allowing Bela to push the doorbell.

Santana shifted a bit, it had been years since she had been here, and coming here had been nerve wracking the first time. It seemed that the Fabray’s were richer than god, but they had been relatively welcoming. After their last meeting she wasn’t quite sure how they would receive her and she wasn’t quite sure she should care. She glances over at Charlie who has a tired expression on her face. The house was big enough that maybe they could talk without Bela overhearing about what had happened last night. She reaches over discretely, behind Bela’s back and squeezes Charlie’s arm, as the doors swing open.

Judy opens the door and smiles widely as she sees her newest granddaughter standing in front of them, she was surprised that Charlie had even agreed to this but she wasn’t going to complain. “ Bela , come and give your grandma a hug,” Judy said pulling Bela into a hug. 

Santana blinked, watching as Judy fawned over her daughter and turned to look at Charlie as Russell appeared wearing an apron. “There’s my granddaughter!” He said enthusiastically. “Did you see the swimming pool? You know we’ve got stables too. Do you like horses?” Russell said not bothering to look at Charlie, but turned to Santana. “Come in, come in,” he said. He suspected that she was the sole reason that they were getting to see their granddaughter today. 

“You have horses?  Here ?” Bela said in awe.  She turns to her mother, “They have  horses ! Can we ride them?”

Santana blinked, the last time she had been here there were no horses. What had she been thinking? “Bela you don’t even know how to ride!” Her own father had never even let her  near a horse, every single time she had brought it up he had muttered something about how a horse had crippled Superman. She could feel the protective urge flare up immediately. 

Russell nodded, “Your mom is right and unfortunately the instructor isn’t around, but you can certainly see the horses and maybe feed them. Beth asked if she could learn how to ride this summer, maybe you can take lessons with her if that’s okay with your mother.” 

Bela turns to her and Santana forces a smile to her lips, this was going to be an uphill battle. “I’ll think about it,” she said politely. There was absolutely no way in hell that she was going to let her daughter up on a damn horse. 

“Well Beth’s playing by the pool, I’ll show you, food will be ready throughout the day, I hope you enjoy lots of food,” Judy said ushering Bela inside. “I’ll show you where you can change, you too Santana,” Judy said before remembering that Charlie was standing there waiting in her paint covered clothes. 

“Is the faucet in the basement still leaky?” Charlie asks bluntly. They had what they wanted and she could make herself scarce for a day.  The house was big enough, though she imagined her father would check to make sure that everything was still where he thought it was supposed to be. Hopefully he wouldn’t be in a pissy mood and accuse her of stealing something that wasn’t where he expected it to be. Judy nodded, “I’ll take a look at it,” Charlie said with a wave of her hand. She could fix a leaky sink in thirty minutes, maybe then she could just sit in her car and wait for the day to be over. Maybe there was a meeting of sorts nearby that she could drive to.  She smiled at Bela who gave her a confused look that she dismissed with a shrug, she didn’t need the drama in her life. 

Santana winces wanting to go with Charlie, but right now she couldn’t just let Russell and Judy have free reign with her daughter when there were damn horses on the property, and if Charlie’s parents thought it was a good idea to just buy horses because they could, just because Beth asked for them, then they needed supervision. She was going to make sure that Bela didn’t accidentally say something that they would decide to simply get for her. She flicks her eyes to Charlie who basically walks off to the basement.  She sighs, today was going to be a  long day.

Bela already liked her new-found grandparents, and she had a  million questions to ask them about Charlie. Her abuela and abuelito would tell her all sorts of embarrassing about her mom growing up, she wanted to know everything about Charlie. Like why she was so weird. “Did Charlie always wear clothes with paint on them?” Bela asks not noting her mother’s groan. 

Russell and Judy shot each other looks, “Well,” Judy said deciding to handle the question, she had always been the more diplomatic one. “Charlie was never really the best dresser. This is just another phase that she’s going through.” 

Santana winced and placed an arm around Bela’s shoulder causing her daughter to look up, “Come on let’s go find your cousin Beth,” she said simply. Bela didn’t have a filter and she really didn’t need Bela hearing this. It didn’t make her feel right, her parents loved her. They told Bela stories of her youth, to embarrass her, but this felt awkward. Especially since there was clearly a new family portrait hanging over the mantle to the fireplace, that didn’t have Charlie in it, but Beth was there. She had to wonder if they had even called her to be part of the photo. It made her angry to think they could just dismiss Charlie like that, but the last thing she needed today was to pick a fight with Charlie’s parents. 

“Santana!” Rachel said from where she had been in the kitchen preparing some vegetarian options to grill. She was finally glad to not be the only  non -Fabray at these things. She loved her wife, she loved her wife’s family but it was nice to not be the only  outsider for once. She pauses and gives Santana a once over, “You look amazing! I’m preparing some veggie burgers if you want some.” She pauses and glances around for a moment she was sure that Carlie was supposed to be here, that’s what Quinn had said. 

“Ho—Rachel,” Santana said grateful that there was someone else there that hadn’t been born a Fabray. Someone she could talk to by the pool. Maybe today could be salvaged after all.

 

* * *

Rachel watched as Beth and Bela talked animatedly, “You have to tell me how you did it,” Rachel says turning to Santana who was seated beside her. “Bela is a respectable young woman, I mean when she isn’t swearing like a sailor. It must have been hard, and I think—no I know that she’s better behaved than Beth is, and it frustrates me.”

Santana sighed and leaned back in the chair, watching as Bela climbed up the slide. “Do you know how many wealthy clients that I have where their daughter or son who have done something stupid and selfish and generally unpleasant? They were spoiled rotten, maybe not to the core but pretty down deep. They didn’t have to work for anything in their lives, so they never had goals. It’s why I kept her away from all of this. I wanted to instill the right values in her. Yeah, with my treatments I’ve been a bit slack on the parenting thing lately, but Charlie has stopped just buying her everything she wants, sure she still buys her food—but I mean toys and things that she doesn’t need to survive.”

Rachel felt her maternal instinct flare up, “Beth isn’t that spoiled. She isn’t that bad, I mean yes she isn’t nearly as respectful as Bela it’s not like she’s spoiled rotten—” she trailed off as both Bela and Beth passed them, water dripping from their bodies as they went to the huge spread to get what she imagined was some drinks or a small snack. 

“Where is Charlie? I want her to build me an arcade too—or she can buy me one right?” Beth said causing Bela to wrinkle her nose a bit at this. “It would be better if she bought it for you, don’t you think? I mean that way if you get bored you can just exchange it for something else or sell it.” 

Rachel slapped her forehead and flushed when Santana gave her a pointed look, it was that bad sometimes. “You may have a point,” Rachel said quietly, slightly ashamed of her daughter’s behavior. “I just don’t know what to do about her.” 

“In my humble opinion, I suggest you make her start volunteering, and if she starts to act out you donate her things to those less fortunate. She doesn’t  need all that stuff to be happy. Charlie’s not just  giving Bela an arcade she wants to build it with her. Of course Charlie might be doing all the more dangerous things with the power tools, but I’m sure that she has plenty for Bela to do so she can feel that sense of accomplishment. You know Bela hated science class, she still does but she enjoys doing the projects with Charlie even though Charlie makes her do much more than she needs to.” Santana suggests. She can’t tell Rachel how to parent her kid but maybe that would help her, figure things out. “She needs to stop living inside her little bubble, I mean if she is anything like you, then after the diva stage that she’s currently in she’ll get better. You’re certainly less annoying then you were ten years ago.”

“I was  driven, there’s a difference!” Rachel says with a bit of a huff, but she had accomplished her dream, starring in Broadway doing a few minor guest appearances. Sure she still needed to win an Emmy, a Grammy and an Academy award, but she was still relatively young. 

“So find her a passion that isn’t simply shopping for things and getting more stuff. Sure you were unbearable and annoying as hell, but I can respect that being driven to get what you want and working your ass off to get there. Make she understands that if she wants to follow in your career then you point out that people  hate working with divas, and once you get that reputation it’s difficult to shake and they will find someone else who can get the job done without the hassle.” Santana shrugs as she turns to study Bela to make sure she was behaving. She glanced around the area, Russell was at the grill while Quinn and Frannie were talking to their mother. “So, there must be a part of you that is wondering why I’m being so nice to you,” she said turning her attention back to Rachel. 

“We’ve never exactly been close, so the thought did cross my mind.” Rachel said with a shrug and turned her attention back to the pool. “So what do you need to know?”

“Everything that happened after I left. I realized that I’m never going to get a straight answer from Charlie, not without prying multiple layers away. I’m  dying Rachel, I don’t have time for that shit. Quinn will give me the whole I should watch out because Charlie is a drug addict and hurt me in the past. I imagine out of everyone you’re the person who has the most unbiased view and I need to make some decisions and I want the history.”

Rachel sighed and leaned back. “I told you already. After you left she spiraled, and there was no one protecting her anymore.”

“No, I understand that, but Charlie was already independently wealthy without the trust fund, she was making that much money because she was  excellent at her job. I don’t know how all this happened.” Santana waved her hand. She didn’t care about the money she needed to know where the damage was. 

Rachel sighed, “It was like a storm hit when you left, she made some terrible investments when she was high, and lost  everything . That’s where all her money went, she would have been fine financially if she hadn’t been fired. Then Quinn went over to tell her that I might be pregnant, I wasn’t at the time even though the test had said it was positive, anyway at the time Russell still didn’t know. Quinn didn’t think it was actually a problem, not really, she just thought that Charlie was partying too hard. So she went over and Charlie had overdosed. I don’t think Quinn’s forgiven Charlie for that, she panicked, but she remembered her training and Charlie was fine. But she told Russell. I think he cracked down too hard on Charlie too quickly. But by then Charlie didn’t exactly have the bank account to fund her habit so she dipped into her trust fund, which was when he cut her off. She was fired soon after, I’m pretty sure it was because Russell asked Al to test his employees.” Rachel took a deep breath. Those were dark times in the Fabray family.

“And?” Santana prodded.

“She couldn’t afford her apartment so she got rid of it, got rid of her car, headed to rehab and it worked. But by then Russell was  furious , I don’t know if it was at himself or at her, I still don’t know and then the alienation began. By the time Beth was born, it was in full effect. Charlie had already started to get her life back on track and I don’t think the contracting business started off as something that was supposed to be full-time, I think that it was always the plan to get back to being on top of the mountain. It never happened and Charlie just began to fix things for a living. She started showing up less and less, and it didn’t matter to anyone. Well Frannie doesn’t like anybody, so that makes sense. Quinn is paranoid that Charlie’s going to overdose again, so she makes sure to check in on her. Lately though she hasn’t been at home.”

“She’s living in a motel in Philly,” Santana said with a shrug, causing Rachel to turn to her. “She wanted to be close by and she does work around the house and makes sure that she helps out, I’m far too tired to argue with her all the time, and Bela likes having her around.” Though Charlie was quickly running out of things to do around the house. 

“I suppose that’s good, it’s about the farthest she’s ever been away from that apartment,” Rachel mumbles and shakes her head. She studies Santana, for the first time she doesn’t look absolutely dead tired or green. “You really do look good.”

Santana shrugs, “I had a good night,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand as Russell announces that the food is done. “Not good enough to eat that much meat, or anything heavy.” She makes a face.

“Just say that you’ve decided to join me in my veganism,” Rachel said with a smile.

“That sounds too pretentious, I’ll just say that I’m on a mostly vegetarian diet.” Santana said watching as Rachel huffed and she let out a small laugh.  She got up, food was good and maybe after she could finally get Charlie alone, to talk to her. 

Bela grinned at her mom as she took a sip of her drink, the spread of food was amazing. There was so much bacon and she shifted, her mom  never let her have this much bacon, she had never seen so much of it in her life. She glances around half expecting Charlie to finally show up and eat with everyone else but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that she wasn’t going to show up. She frowns and leans over to tug on her mom’s shirt. “Shouldn’t we wait for Charlie?” she mumbles. 

Russell frowns for a split second before forcing a smile onto his face. It’s a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, “It’s fine. I’m sure Charlie is busy with something else, Judy will give you a plate Charlie can eat on the way home.”

Bela frowned, that sounded stupid, Charlie was at their house. She didn’t understand why Charlie couldn’t just eat the food while it was hot. She’s about to say something when her mother puts her hand on her leg and shakes her head discretely. Bela makes a face, she had thought her grandparents were cool but she didn’t like the feeling she was getting for them. When her abuela and abuelito were around everyone had to eat at the same time. 

Beth hums and looks at her mothers, she didn’t understand why Bela was upset, Charlie  never showed up to these things. “I want Charlie to build me an arcade too,” she said bluntly. “Bela said that they’re going to build their own arcade and I want one.”

Russell smiled at his granddaughters, not noticing Rachel groaning and Quinn raising a brow at Beth. “No need, we’ll get you one that you can put in her room.” 

“There’s no more  room in her bedroom,” Quinn pointed out. Her father bought Beth the most  outrageous  gifts some of the time and they weren’t particularly practical. Yes they were thinking of moving into a brownstone soon, but still they lived in New York City they didn’t have that much space available to them. 

“Well then we’ll just build an arcade here that you can come over and play with anytime you want,” Russell said with ease. He turns to Bela, “Of course we’ll buy you one too as well Bela. It’ll be simpler—”

“No thanks,” Bela said picking at her food not looking at him. “I want to build it with Charlie, she said that I could use spray paint to paint it.” She drops her voice and finally looks at him leaning in a bit, pretending that her mother isn’t sitting right beside her. “Plus, maybe I can convince her to let me use the power tools when mom isn’t looking. We made this really cool solar system and she helped me with my rockets and next year she said she’d help me with my science fair project. I had lots of fun, and I want to do it with Charlie.” She pauses and then flashes a smile, “Thank you though.” 

Beth paused and frowned at Bela not quite understanding why she would turn it down, but if Bela thought it was amazing then she wanted to do it too. “I want to do that with Charlie too,” Beth said crossing her arms over her chest. She wanted the best and coolest thing as well. 

Quinn hesitated when her father gave her a look, “Look, Beth I’m sure that Charlie is super busy and you don’t really need to spend any more time with her—”

“I’m going to say this once,” Santana said putting her fork and knife done. She glances over at Frannie who is sipping on some wine. “So we’re all on the same page and the fact that there is indeed another lawyer here, to confirm these facts, is just a bonus. Charlie is Bela’s mother. At this point in time, if anything were to happen to me, Bela would go to live with Charlie. So we’re still on the same page, Charlie is your  daughter  and the person you have consistently made clear today that you want nothing to do with. I thought that maybe this would bridge the gap between you, and if anything were to happen to me she’d have the support she needed to make sure that she wasn’t overwhelmed with raising a kid on her own because it’s difficult and I imagine that Bela as a teenager will be a nightmare. I haven’t said anything because I  hoped that this wouldn’t happen.” Santana pushed her chair out. “Time to go Bela, if you want to see horses I’ll have Charlie take you to a farm. You can do a damn hayride or something. You don’t need to learn how to ride a damn horse, we live in the twenty-first century.” 

“Well, we thank god that nothing is going to happen to you,” Judy said.

“I have cancer, you might want to talk to Quinn about my prognosis, since she’s already violated several HIPPA laws by finding out and telling Rachel, what’s a few more?” Santana said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Bela, go grab your stuff. Let’s go find Charlie and get out of here.” 

Bela nods and quickly scrambles to grab all their stuff before returning to her mother, “Oh, it was nice meeting you. Thank you for having us,” she says politely. She doesn’t understand when her mother lets out a sharp laugh and places a hand on her shoulder, and walks her out. She leans into her mom, not saying anything until they’re out of earshot. “You were so awesome mom!” Bela whispers, wanting to take a look back to see the look on their faces.

“Don’t look back Bela, you need to make a proper exit, keep your head high and your back straight and just walk out.” Santana says. They’d call Charlie outside and wait by the car. 

“Santana—” Quinn says, the first one to speak up, the shock had worn off a bit quicker.

“Don’t acknowledge, just keep walking.” Santana said as they made their way through the mansion and exited the front door and walked to Charlie’s car. She opened her purse and was about to call Charlie when she noticed someone sitting in the bed of Charlie’s truck. There was Charlie sitting quietly by herself watching something on her phone. Santana raised a brow at this. “Really?”

Charlie dropped her phone onto the ground in shock and scrambled upwards, turning to them. “Hey. Did you two have fun?” 

“Mom was awesome!” Bela said excitedly and studied Charlie for a long moment, “You could take some lessons.” 

Santana rolled her eyes. “Into the car Bela, I want to get out of here before they decide to follow us. We’ll  talk later.” Santana said narrowing her eyes at Charlie.  

Charlie blinked and watched as Santana got inside the car, she had somehow managed to piss of both her daughter and Santana at the same time. She groaned it was going to be a  long drive back home. 

 


	26. Chapter 26

When your daughter and ex-girlfriend or maybe current girlfriend, were staring at you with disappointment in their eyes she knew she had fucked up somehow, and she didn’t quite know how to fix it. She hadn’t even  wanted to go to the stupid barbeque, she didn’t do family events. Her family hadn’t wanted her there, they had wanted to pamper Bela. “Can I preface this by saying I’m sorry?” Charlie asks hopefully. 

Santana stares at Charlie for a long moment, the slightly dopey look which usually made her roll her eyes, simply infuriated her today. The Charlie that she had known ten years ago, might have been an egotistical asshole at times but she hadn’t been a coward. “No. You can’t, because you need to grow a pair.”

Bela blinked and looked at her mother, “A pair of what?” she asked her mother, whispering the comment before looking back at Charlie and narrowing her eyes at her. 

Charlie shifted in her seat uncomfortably, Santana clearly had no problem eviscerating her in front of Bela, which meant that this was going to be brutal. “Santana—”

Santana held up her hand immediately shutting Charlie up, “Charlie your family treats you  like shit , and you just accept it. You don’t deserve to get treated like that, you know you don’t deserve to get treated like that. We were  right there and you abandoned us to deal with your family all on your own. I expected you to  own  it. It’s been  ten fucking years .”

Charlie blinked surprised, she had thought that Santana was furious about something else. Something that she had done that had clearly offended them both. How she dealt with her parents was at best passive aggressive, at worst it was full on avoidance. She wasn’t wanted, they didn’t want her around, and she didn’t particularly want to be around them. “I know how long it’s been Santana. I’ve spent my time living it.” 

“Well  do something about it! I never thought I’d see the day where you just rolled over and took it. Like you deserve it. You  don’t. ” 

“And how should I go about  fixing it?” Charlie points out. “I’ve been doing this for ten years. They don’t want me around. I  get that . I’m not wanted, what’s arguing about it going to do?” Charlie says running a hand through her hair.

Santana grimaced for a moment and then looked at her daughter who was now looking between the two of them, “If you’re not going to fight for yourself then I  need you to stick up for Bela.” Charlie  needed to be able to set a good example for Bela, she didn’t want her daughter feeling plagued with insecurities growing up, she didn’t want her to be unsure of herself. Charlie  needed to lead by example. “Stop being afraid of what other people think, I  need you to stick up for yourself. I need you to not give a fuck what other people think or the optics of the situation. Your parents—people, care far too much about appearances. What were your parents going to do? They invited you, do you think that they were going to make a fuss. Of course not that would be the  height of bad manners.” 

“My parents—they are always going to think of me of some screw up,” Charlie says with a shrug of her shoulders. Quinn would always do what their father wanted, and Frannie well Frannie hated  everyone . She was least offended by Frannie’s position. She had never called her to begin with even when she was  fine . Her not calling was something she chalked up to it being Frannie. “Does it bother me? I’d be lying if I said it didn’t, but it’s been ten years and nothing has changed their minds. To be honest it wasn’t their minds I was worried about.” 

Santana went rigid her eyes going dark with anger and she barely notices Bela moving back. “You think  they could change  my mind ?” She hisses at Charlie, especially after what they had done several times last night. 

Charlie immediately holds her hands up, trying to defend herself, she swallows. Having Santana pissed at her was never a position she  wanted to be in and a part of her wants to back down, to pretend that’s not what she meant. “I did, I still do. My parents—they’re used to getting what they want. It’s—odd, they tell people that I don’t listen, that I’m a failure, that they have no idea where they went wrong. And it works, I didn’t  have any friends, willing to stand by my side once they finished. I made my own friends, outside of their influence, but I like what we have right now Santana, I like this. I thought if I antagonized them with my presence then they’d start with the comments and I didn’t want all this to stop,” Charlie explains. “For the first time in years I  feel alive and I don’t want to lose it.” 

Santana stared at Charlie wanting to smack her, at the very least shake her, but Bela was right there. “You think I’d what? Just walk away? Bela is  your daughter. She’s already stood up to your parents to get something she wanted which was building that arcade together.” 

Charlie flicks her eyes to Bela who didn’t look pleased with these turn of events, she probably wasn’t sure what to do with them arguing so openly in front of her. “You did?” She imagined her parents had promised to buy her an arcade of her own. 

Bela frowned, she preferred it when her parents were denying that they had feelings for one another, this seemed to be a mess of emotions and she had never seen her mom this mad before, certainly not at Dani. She blinked when they both turned to her. “I wanted to build it with Carlie, it would probably cooler than something that your parents could buy me. I didn’t think it was that weird. It felt weird when they kept trying to buy me things.” 

Charlie smiled and rubbed the back of her neck. “You  really want to do that?” 

Santana stared at Charlie for a moment with that irritating smile on her face, and twitched and let out a frustrated sigh. “You are the most  infuriating  person that I know,” she snaps at Charlie. She was done with this conversation, she was about to yell some more but glanced over at her daughter and twitched, before letting out another sound of annoyance and turning around and storming away. 

Charlie winces and immediately gets up to follow Santana, only to have her daughter, block her path and Charlie pauses and looks at Bela, “She’s mad at me, I need to—” she doesn’t quite know  what   she has to do something. Talk to her do  something . 

“Mom said she was dying—today I think she’s super scared. She only gets that angry with me when she’s scared.” Bela’s brow furrows and she looks at Charlie. “I know she has cancer—but my mom’s not going to die? Right Charlie?” 

Charlie hesitates, there are a lot of questions she’s not equipped to deal with. Talking about death is not something that she knew how to handle, she didn’t even want to think about it. She wanted to believe that everything was okay—that Santana was going to be okay even with her fatalistic attitude at times. She pauses as the irony hits her and she swallows. “I don’t know,” Charlie says quietly. “But between you and me, if anyone in the world can beat this, can come back swinging from this, it’s your mom Bela. She  truly doesn’t want to leave you. So we just have to have a bit of faith even when your mom doesn’t necessarily have it.” 

Bela flicks her eyes to where her mom had stormed off to, it was scary. She was scared, she didn’t like to think about it, but her mom was  dying . She turns to Charlie, “You have to fight too,” she announces plainly, watching as Charlie turns to her. “You’re the  savior , you have to fight for my mom Charlie—”

“I know,” Charlie mumbles and awkwardly pats Bela on the head causing her to scowl.

“I’m  serious Charlie! You have to fight for her! You’re supposed to be her  knight in shining armor Charlie,” Bela said with a huff. Charlie wasn’t listening.

“Bela, your mom doesn’t  need me as her knight in shining armor. She still kicks ass all on her own, what she needs—she needs someone who stands by her side and has her back, who fights with her instead of turning to run away when things get hard.” 

Bela huffed and quickly darted to the kitchen and grabbed the pen and ripped off a sheet of paper off the fridge where her mom wrote down what they needed for groceries and she heads back. Charlie clearly doesn’t understand what’s going on and she needed to explain it to her slowly with diagrams. She draws out two women and shows it to Charlie. “This is you and my mom,” Bela explains slowly. “You see the crown on top of my mom’s head? She’s the queen, and that means you’re her faithful knight. I’m the princess right here,” Bela said pointing. “You’re  supposed to save and protect the queen Charlie. That’s  your job. That’s how the story  goes . That’s how  all the stories go.” 

Charlie stares at her daughter and bites her lip, artistic talent is not one of Bela’s strong points and they look like horribly dressed stick people, with labels on it. “So why don’t we write a new story? Where the Queen saves the knight and the knight saves the queen? Your mom is a badass Bela. You know that and you know she’s the one who is probably going to save me—she’s  always tried to save me.” 

Bela made a face you couldn’t just  change the story, she sighed. “That’s not how the story goes Charlie,” she mumbles. “I don’t want my mom to die.” 

“I don’t want your mom to die either,” Charlie says and rubs her neck. “So let’s go save your mom  our way, not how Disney tells it.” Charlie said and she watches as Bela ponders over it before deciding that it seemed to be the best plan of action. “Now, let’s go see if your mom still wants to kill me?” 

“Probably,” Bela says after a minute. “You have to say sorry and  mean it. That’s what I do when she’s mad at me.”

Charlie pulled Bela into a half hug, “I don’t think that’s going to cut it Bela, I think I need to show your mom that I’m not going to run away, when things get tough. I  promised her  that I wouldn’t run away anymore. But not showing up, going to hide instead of standing up to my parents—that was hiding.” Charlie explains and rubs her head, Santana needed to know that she could take care of Bela that she wouldn’t just check out if the worst came to the worse and Santana couldn’t beat this damn cancer. 

“You should still apologize now,” Bela said as she tugged Charlie upstairs and headed straight to her mother’s room. Bela glances at Charlie for a second and let’s go of her hand before knocking on the door. “Mom?” 

The door swings open and Santana glances at her daughter and at Charlie who immediately flashes her a sheepish look. She scowls deeply and turns to Bela, “You can come in,” Santana informed her daughter bluntly and placed a hand on Charlie’s chest, stopping her from entering her room. 

“Santana, I’m—” Charlie sighs and takes a step back as Santana closes the door in her face. “Sorry.” Charlie makes a face at this and sighs. There was a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and trying to force a conversation with Santana right now was just stupid. She sighs and sits out in front of the door and closes her eyes. Santana would have to let her in eventually right? 

-0-

“We  really need to wean you off these fairy tales,” Santana said as the credits began to roll. If she lived long enough to have another kid she was going to rethink this fascination with fairy tales. “Can we at least watch something that doesn’t have people breaking out into song every five minutes or even better animals that aren’t creepy? And completely unhygienic.” 

Bela rolled her eyes, her mom  always  said that and nothing ever changed. She picked up the remote to flip through the Netflix queue. “I like  fairy  tales, I mean look at you and Charlie. She  loves you, and you love her. That’s  true love , even though you’re both being silly. But it’s okay, Charlie and I decided to write our  own story.” 

Santana shook her head, she was definitely putting a moratorium on Disney Princess movies. She was about to turn her attention elsewhere when she paused and turned back to Bela. “What do you  mean you’re going to write your  own story?” Santana pressed and she was met with a mischievous look on Bela’s face. “ Bela , what have I told you about attempting to mess with people’s lives?” 

“You never said  not to,” Bela points out. She wasn’t quite sure that her mother had said anything about it at all. “That’s why you should forgive Charlie and we can all go downstairs and watch movies together.” 

She didn’t  want to forgive Charlie, “I think I’ll pass on the forgiving her. She’s saying sorry without even knowing  why  I’m angry which just happens to be part of the problem.” Santana snips feeling her anger growing once more. Charlie had  never been this infuriating before, or maybe she had and she just had blinders on.

“She thinks you’re mad at her because she keeps running away when things get hard,” Bela said as she opens a movie she hadn’t seen before and checks it before crinkling her nose and going back. “That  is why you’re mad at her isn’t it?”

The wind immediately deflates from Santana’s sails and she makes a face. “Yes, but it’s  more than that. Charlie wasn’t the  best person when things ended the first time, even if you take away some of the bad things that she did. But she wasn’t  afraid . She was confident and she knew how to fight for things that she believed in—” Santana frowned slightly as she put more thought into it. Charlie had  never fought for their relationship, she had  failed when it got tough and maybe now she was trying but the same problematic behavior was starting to pop up, and it didn’t make her  feel secure. 

Bela nods, still not quite understanding. “I just don’t understand  why Charlie’s parents were so mean to her.” 

Santana sighed, she had skirted around the issue in front of Bela, who  truly didn’t seem to understand. Yes Dani had mentioned it to her, and various other people had mentioned it in passing but for her entire life she had gone out of her way to not tell her daughter. Not while she still viewed the world in black and white. “Charlie—” Santana sighed. “Remember the talk I gave you about drugs?” 

“Yeah like how cigarettes are bad or you and I shouldn’t take medicine, or strange things from strangers.” Bela says and watches her mom. “Charlie’s parents don’t like her because she did drugs.” 

“Yes and no.” Santana said and then sighs. “Charlie did drugs that made her—unpredictable and sometimes it made her  very angry and sometimes violent. That’s what drugs do they  ruin your life, and they turn you into a person that you can’t recognize anymore. That’s what happened to Charlie.”

“Her parents never told her that drugs are bad?” Bela asked frowning not quite understanding. 

“I’m sure Charlie  knew that. I’m sure her parents told her, but when you’re older you realize that things aren’t necessarily good or bad. They just are. People  know these things, but everyone thinks it’s just going to be this one time, or they can handle it. Some people say well they should never have tried it to begin with, and that’s where I need you to be. I don’t want you to ever touch the damn stuff because it’s addicting. Drugs, like the one that Charlie was taking made her feel  good.  She felt like she could conquer the world and when that feeling wears off you get depressed, and you feel really bad, you go all the way in the opposite direction, so you take the drug again to make you feel just as happy as you did before.” Santana explained hoping that she was using language that Bela understood.  “I didn’t really care, because in the beginning Charlie only did it at parties, and it’s not like she was going to parties that often, and that was my mistake. I didn’t  notice that Charlie had begun to use a lot more than just at parties, I don’t even think she realized that she was using a lot of drugs at the time. It doesn’t matter now, but that’s when things got  bad  between us. Charlie did some  bad things a lot of bad things, but that doesn’t make her a  bad person.” 

“She told me that she was a bad person, but I don’t see it. She’s never done anything bad in front of me.” Bela says and makes a face. 

Santana sighed wondering how to simplify this part for Bela, “Do you remember when you decided to play with matches and burned the kitchen table? You thought I’d be mad at you.”

“You were mad at me,” Bela points out. 

“No I was furious at you. But you felt really bad about it, because you knew that you had done something dangerous and bad, and it could have hurt a lot of people. I forgave you, because it was a mistake—a stupid mistake, but it was a mistake nonetheless. Most importantly you forgave yourself, you’re not beating yourself up over it. Charlie hasn’t done that last part, she hasn’t forgiven herself. It’s like if you decided to ground yourself and never leave your room until you didn’t feel guilty. That’s what Charlie did. She grounded herself and that’s part of the problem. I forgave Charlie.”

“Charlie’s parents haven’t,” Bela points out. “Charlie doesn’t do drugs anymore though right?”

“No, she doesn’t and I’m proud of her, because it is really hard to quit doing drugs but she has, and her parents should be happy and they should be proud of her too. But the truth is, the reason that they don’t like Charlie has more to do with the fact that Charlie failed and it embarrassed them. I agree that Charlie needed to hit rock bottom to get her life together, but she has and instead of helping her, instead of coming together like a family should—they abandoned her when she really needed their help. That’s not what families do, and no matter what even though Russell and Judy are extremely wealthy, Charlie is your mother. She’s still learning the ropes but she is.” Santana sighs. “I need her to forgive herself and stop letting other people punish her for her mistakes. I need her to stand up for herself and it’s frustrating.”

“Well—maybe she just forgot?” Bela said leaning against her mother who wraps her arms around her in a hug. “It’s been a long time, maybe she forgot how to love herself and how to fight.”

Santana studied her daughter for a moment and then sighed a small smile on her face as she pulls her daughter into a tight hug, “I did a  really good job on you,” she said giving herself a mental pat on the back. “I suppose we’ll just have to teach Charlie how to love herself by loving her and teaching her how to stand up for herself.” 

Bela squirmed under her mother’s grasp for a moment, but she finally settled down and hugged her mom back. “Mom?” Bela asked keeping her voice low, in case Charlie was outside. “Will we ever be a normal family? You me and Charlie? Do you want that? Because that’s what I want.”

Santana tenses for a moment, “I want that for you as well,” she murmurs, she does it’s what she’s always wanted but she wasn’t sure if that was going to happen due to her illness and because—well, she’s not sure she even knows anymore. She sighs, and looks at Bela. “You can let her in,” she says with a wave of her hand. “But she has to stay on her side of the bed.”

“And she has to get us snacks and drinks?”

Santana raises a brow, “I really did do a good job raising you,” she smirks and nods at her daughter who gets up and moves to open the door for Charlie who falls back onto the ground and scrambles up. Santana rolls her eyes, and shifts the blanket that’s on her legs up a bit. “You’ve been allowed into my castle, but you have to stay on your side.” She says before Charlie can utter another apology which would just annoy her. 

Charlie shuffles a bit and looks at Bela before biting her lip and looking at Santana. “You were right—I  know you’re right. I’m avoiding and ducking, things that I should  be doing and not handling—I’m not dealing with anything that I should. I’ll talk to my parents on Monday.” 

Bela turns and grins, “See mom, she’s listening to you! She didn’t apologize, and she’s going to handle it.” Santana snorts and Bela turns back to Charlie who looks slightly confused and pats her hand gently. “Now all we need is food.” Bela gives Charlie a look.

“I’ll go get us some food?” Charlie offers and she’s met with near identical looks of amusement from both Santana and her daughter. She shifts a bit and gives Santana a look before going to go and make something to eat for them. She scratched her cheek, Santana didn’t seem  mad anymore. 

“ Charlie ? Lilo and Stitch or The Incredibles? Mom said no more princess movies,” Bela called after her. 

“Lilo and Stitch,” Charlie responds and she hears Santana groan and smiles. It was almost too good to be true, but she would take in every minute while it lasted.

 


	27. Chapter 27

Charlie exhaled slowly as she adjusted one of the suits that Santana had bought for her. It had been years, she wasn’t quite sure if she remembered  how to do this. She had used to walk into places with her fancy clothes and her fancy shoes, and they had been like an armor for her. She couldn’t be touched, but her armor had just been cloth. It didn’t really do anything when she was being attacked, but Bela had patted her on the back and said she just needed to be confident. When Bela hadn’t been looking Santana had repeated and slapped her ass. Charlie shook her head. She didn’t know what that meant, whether they were dating or whether her ass simply looked amazing in the pants, but she had already decided that Santana could slap her ass anytime she wanted. She pulled the mirror to make sure her hair was fine, before exiting out of her truck. 

She was met with a look from the valet at the restaurant as she handed him her keys. “Thank you,” Charlie mumbled to him and handed him a twenty dollar bill as a tip. The man snatches it from her and she rubs the back of her neck. She had been here before back when she was still on top of the world. Back when she could still afford to waste hundreds of dollars on a small plate with a bit of food on it. She headed to the host, “Hello, I’m part of the Fabray party.” She was late, she knew she was but she had needed to drive home and get changed into something presentable before she had got here. Maybe there was a part of her that wanted to simply avoid the whole situation, but Santana was right. She  needed to get this done. 

The door to one of the private event rooms was opened and Charlie noticed her parents were sitting there arguing quietly amongst themselves. She stops for a moment, they haven’t noticed her yet and she stands wanting to know what the mood was. 

“If I’m  paying for lunch and this  bribery to see my own granddaughter, then I will damn well do what I please,” Russell grumbled, this was  highway robbery as far as he saw it.  

“ Russell , our last meeting didn’t go well, and I refuse to have our granddaughter hate us because we can’t be civil to  our daughter.” Judy says with a tired sigh. 

“She’s  our granddaughter, do you  really want Charlotte of people raising her? I talked to the lawyers—” Russell began.

Charlie hands tightened into a clenched fist, and her jaw set, and an anger she hadn’t felt in years began to burn in the pit of her stomach. “ You’re not taking my daughter from me.”  

Judy immediately stood up and smiled at her daughter, pleased that for once she didn’t look absolutely filthy with her paint splattered clothes. It was a start, “Of course not. That’s not what your father meant.” Russell didn’t look the least bit pleased. “ Right?”

“Of course that’s what I meant,” Russell said. “You  aren’t fit to be a parent. I’m not going to let you use her as a bargaining chip against us. That’s extortion, I’m sure there’s a judge who will see things our way, given your history, and the fact that you play in  dirt for a living. Santana is  sick and according to Quinn realistically she isn’t coming back from this. You don’t have the money to take care of your daughter, to pay for school to give her the opportunities that we could give her.” 

Charlie frowned deeply and exhaled, “ Bullshit .” She had spent last night on the phone with Santana preparing for this.  She had  hoped that they could simply just talk it out that they for once didn’t treat her like she was  beneath them. But Santana was right. She was done being the Fabray whipping post. She didn’t need this, and Bela  certainly didn’t need that type of hatred in her life. “I  know I don’t have the Fabray resources anymore, but  good luck finding and convincing a judge that it’s in Bela’s best interests to go live with people she’s only met once. Let alone try convincing them that I’m  not clean. Ten years of sobriety, I went to meetings  every day . I have sponsors, people who will tell the judge that I’ve been clean for years. As for this playing in the dirt as you call it’s actually a  successful business that I run, and trust me  dad , I’ve been putting that degree I got to good use. I don’t  need your money.” 

Russell sneered at this, “You don’t need my money? You  sure needed  it when you went into your trust. Used it like some sort of  piggy bank .”

Charlie frowned, “I  needed money because I’m not  solvent to the degree that you are. I don’t have thirty thousand dollars lying about in a bank account somewhere. Where do you think all my money went ten years ago? I buy properties, I fix them up and then I sell them or rent them depending on the market. Not to mention that I get hired to do private projects because I do  damn good work. All of my liquid assets—” Charlie stops herself and runs a hand through her hair. “You know what? I  don’t have to explain myself to you.  But if you think it’s going to be  easy for you to just take my kid—well you’re  wrong .” This conversation was over, there was nothing more to say. 

Judy stared at Charlie for a moment, “Charlie,  wait .” She turns her head to Russell who is still in some sort of shock at the knowledge that Charlie was better off than anyone knew. She  suspected that Frannie had an idea, but Quinn certainly had no idea. It would cause strife in the family, and she could already feel a headache coming on. “Russell  apologize ,” she said firmly. 

Charlie held up her hands, “Don’t bother. Seriously  don’t .” There was nothing that they could say, she was so  done with her family.

Russell blinked when his wife gripped his wrist, “Do you know how difficult it is for us to see you waste your life?” 

Charlie twitched at this. “You know what’s hard? Having your father call your boss and have him fire you. Having your  father make sure that you’re blackballed in the city, to teach me some lesson. I don’t even know what that lesson was. But I got clean anyway, I’ve been clean anyway. I struggled, but I  wanted to get clean to get my life back on track. Only to have my family turn their backs on me, not because I was an addict, but because I had besmirched the family name. Every single time, being treated like I was some criminal. You know what’s  difficult ? Going through recovery on your own and wondering what the point was. I had no support from you or from anyone, and every step I made forward you would do something like kick me from the hospital after Beth was born, and treat me like I was dirt. You didn’t have to trust me, you didn’t have to baby me, I don’t blame you for cutting me off. I don’t even really blame you for anything that happened while I was on drugs. I blame you for everything  after I got clean.” She shook her head and took a deep breath. She had been waiting to say that for  years and now that it was finally here it was like she couldn’t stop.

Russell went to cut in, but Charlie held up her hand. “I’m not done. Sure, I let it happen because I felt guilty. I felt guilty about not really wanting Bela to see you, which is why when Santana suggested it, I thought okay. She was excited to meet you, and I thought I could deal with it, and be polite and we could fix what was wrong with this relationship slowly.” Charlie exhales noisily, her knuckles going white from clenching her fists hard. “That’s not going to happen, and I don’t think Santana wants you spoiling the shit out of  our daughter like you did with Beth.” 

“You can’t mean that Charlie—” Judy said trying to ease the tension in the room.

“Try me. Now excuse me, I’ve got to get back to work. The idea that I have to sort of use my own daughter as some sort of bargaining chip or something makes me ill. I just want you to leave  my family alone.” Charlie said before turning around and storming out of the restaurant. 

Judy watched as her youngest stormed off and turned on her husband. “Are you happy now?” She demands her own annoyance flaring up.

Russell watched Charlie go, she was lying. She  had to be, addicts lied all the time and he could never trust anything that came out of her mouth. “She’s bluffing Judy, she’s an addict she’s been one for years. Why else wouldn’t she take the drug test for years? If we gave her a test right now she’d probably fail. I’ll  handle it.” 

“ No . I listened to you because I thought it was for the best, tough love forcing her to get better on her own. Christmases that she didn’t come to, Thanksgiving where her seat was absent, Beth—I stayed quiet because I wanted my  baby back, but she’s been back for years and—you heard she suffered without us. She didn’t need us to baby her she just needed her parents and we  failed Russell.” 

He knew that they had failed but he didn’t want to admit, he  couldn’t admit. “We’re  good parents, we have an attorney and a surgeon for daughters Judy, how could Charlie’s choices be our  fault ?” 

“We have three daughters. Three  successful daughters, one of them who happened to be an excellent financial advisor. She’s  our daughter as well.” Judy said. “We can still fix this, you can still apologize, and you can still talk to her. She adores you Russell, or at least she did. She wanted to be just like you. Just as powerful as you, just as rich, to make her own fortune—you  need to apologize. You need to talk to her, and apologize and do what you’re supposed to do as a father, and then everything will be okay.” Judy’s eyes narrow when she sees her husband hesitate. “It’s been  ten years and she’s my daughter.” 

“ Fine ,” Russell mutters under his breath, not pleased with the turn of events. 

“You have to  mean  it, you can’t leave until  she  agrees to work things out.” Judy adds, they were both stubborn but her family was divided and she had stood by idly hoping that it simply worked itself out. It was clear to her now  that wasn’t going to happen. It was time for drastic measures, but she would do anything to get another chance to be in Charlie’s life. 

 

* * *

She always  hated the magazines that you found in doctor’s offices. They were usually several issues out of date, and hopelessly dull and people did the damn crossword puzzles. She picked up her phone and eyed it carefully checking her messages. She bit her lip, wondering if Charlie had gotten her text message. She had dumped Bela with Tracey’s mother again because Brittany was busy, and she refused to let Bela go to work with Charlie. She didn’t need to worry about her daughter’s safety while she was getting news about her diagnosis. 

She didn’t want to hear bad news, certainly not alone. She only had one more chemo session left and she wanted to know if going through hell for the past few months had been worth it. She didn’t truly expect Charlie to show up, it had been very last minute and she was sure that Charlie was dealing with the clusterfuck that was her parents today. She sighed and picked up a copy of US weekly and flipped through it trying not to focus. She didn’t want to hear the news that she was going to die, that she only had a few months to live. She swallowed and tried to focus on whatever the latest gossip was for celebrities that she didn’t know let alone care for. 

“You’re a bitch.” 

Santana’s eyes fly up from the paper, about to tear into someone when she realizes that it’s just Quinn, standing there her arms crossed over her chest in her light blue scrubs. 

“Thank you,” She responds and turns her attention back to her magazine. Quinn doesn’t move and she sighs and looks back up only to see that Quinn is trying to kill her with a death glare. “Oh, you weren’t complimenting me. What’d I do this time to offend your delicate sensibilities?” She asks not really caring why Quinn was upset.

“Should I make a list?” Quinn hisses at Santana keeping her voice low.

“That would be most helpful, of course it’ll probably end up in that trashcan.” Santana said motioning to the trashcan. 

“I was  handling  it Santana! All you had to do was sit there and eat quietly. Do you know what a big deal it was for dad to let her in the house to begin with? You put everything in jeopardy. I don’t even understand why. You and Charlie are  not  dating, and you  had no right —”

She let out a laugh. “I don’t have the right?” Santana turned to Quinn. “I thought you cared about your sister. You’re a  fucking doctor and Charlie is a recovering addict and you never once stopped them to tell them to ease up or to stop treating her like garbage? What’s worse is she took your shit, and you kept heaping it on. So  yes I stood up for her because for fucks sake the number your family did on her.” Santana let out a shaky breath and frowned at Quinn who looked livid. “She’s  Bela’s mother Quinn. I spent  ten hours delivering her.  I get to comment on Charlie’s life. I certainly get to protect my daughter from witnessing an unhealthy relationship. Besides you have your own shit to deal with. If I were you, I’d stop worrying about what I’m doing in my life and start worrying about the fact that your parents are spoiling your daughter rotten.  Horses ? Really Quinn?” Santana said in a mocking tone. 

“This isn’t  about Bela or Beth and she isn’t spoiled! This is about Charlie, you may think that everything is fine that Charlie is okay. But you  left. You  took off and I was the one who had to pick up the pieces. I was the one that had to find my  twin on the ground going through an overdose. So you don’t get to lecture me on who did what for Charlie. You  abandoned her let’s not forget you hid the fact that she had a child from her for  ten years. You don’t have the moral authority on who did what for Charlie and who helped her cause while you were living your perfect life I was—”

“You didn’t trust me. I get after the first couple of years, you had a baby. I get it, but you always did what dad wanted to you to do.” Charlie said from behind Quinn causing both women to turn. She rubs the back of her neck and smiles at Santana. “You had to pick the hospital that Quinn worked at?” 

“I went to the best oncologist in the city, I didn’t know that Quinn worked here.” Santana responded and opened her magazine up. Quinn’s word had hit her target but she’d damned if she was going to let Quinn see the damage. “Lunch didn’t go well I take it?” 

“No, it didn’t.” Charlie said moving to take a seat beside Santana. “I still need to work on your parents too—do you think that will go better?”

Santana winced and looked at Charlie, “No it won’t.  But , we’ll have to do that one together. Once they see how good you are with Bela—well my dad will probably never forgive you for not taking responsibility. Of course it’s hard to when you  didn’t know—I’ll figure it out.” 

“Is this before or after you tell them you have cancer?” Quinn snipped, she didn’t care how bitchy it sounded. She was tired, this whole thing was a  mess her parents had been furious and what should have been a fun day with the family was  ruined . She was the one that was always dragged into the middle of this like she was Charlie’s keeper or something. 

Charlie’s eyes narrowed at this and she stood up, getting in Quinn’s face. “ Enough , you’re angry at me, so yell at me and be done with it. You’re upset I ruined a family dinner. Fine I’m sorry, don’t take it out on Santana or my kid and just back off and go, cut into someone and take it out on their insides or whatever it is you do. In case you haven’t noticed  we’re busy.”

Santana blinked slightly surprised at the vehemence in Charlie’s tone. She might have been underselling how well lunch with her parents went. She sighed and reached forward to tug Charlie back before a brawl could take place, “Charlie, sit. You know I can smack Quinn down without breaking a sweat.”

Quinn frowned watching as Charlie shifted and then flashed a small smile at Santana who smiled back and it hit her like a bolt of lightning. “Are you  serious ?” Both of them turn to look at her and she can’t help but point. “You two are sleeping with each other!” 

Santana gave Quinn a dry look, “Yep, you caught us. Alert the media. We had sex. I’m dying, what do you want from me Quinn?” Charlie shifted uncomfortably and turned red. “Don’t blush—that was some of the best sex I’ve had in  years .” This didn’t seem to help Charlie who sunk down in her the uncomfortable hospital seat a bright red. Santana smirked at Charlie’s discomfort. “We both know it’s the best damn sex you’ve had in years.”

Quinn shuddered at this and waved her hands to get their attention. This wasn’t cute it was nauseating and she didn’t like being ignored. “I’m still pissed at you.” 

Santana rolled her eyes, “For what exactly? Is my getting cancer an inconvenience for you? Or perhaps it’s sleeping with your twin that has your panties in a fucking twist. It certainly can’t be because I did what you needed to do and stood up for Charlie is it? Or  maybe it’s because you’re jealous at the fact that Charlie wants to talk to me instead of you and picks up the phone when I call. It certainly can’t be because I refused to let my daughter hear other people disrespecting her mother in front of her. Regardless of my feelings for Charlie even when we weren’t around I refused to poison the well.” Quinn glares at her and Santana rolls her eyes. “Speak up Quinn. Tell me why you’re upset with me or leave me alone. I’ll take this one with me and you know continue to defile her in my spare time.” 

Quinn turns to Charlie expecting her to say something but her twin shrugs at her, causing her to scowl and turn around. She couldn’t deal with this, she decided to take a page from Rachel’s playbook and storm off. 

“ Fuck Quinn, this is what happens when you’re married to a hobbit for too long,” Santana can’t help and smirks when Quinn turns around and flips her off. “ Better , but don’t worry we’ll work on it.” Santana said leaning back in her chair and laughing. 

Charlie watches her twin go for a moment and gently prods Santana, “Are—you can’t keep telling people that you’re dying Santana.” She mumbles after a moment. “You need to have some hope—”

“I don’t know why  I have to make other people feel better about my prognosis,” Santana interrupts, it was what it was. 

Charlie shifts a bit and then exhales, “You don’t need to, certainly not with Quinn or anyone else, but Bela is worried about you and when she hears you talk like that, she thinks you’re giving up.” Charlie says quietly. She frowns a bit and immediately realizes that she’s encroaching on the parenting thing when Santana gives her a look. “I’m not—telling you how to parent her—I’m just telling you how she feels.” 

Santana exhales, she had always been defensive when it came to Bela, and people criticizing how she parented her daughter. Being a single mother was difficult and she did her best, to be there for Bela. But she wasn’t a single parent anymore. She had been trying to get Charlie ready for the inevitable, but she couldn’t let Charlie start second guessing herself when the training wheels were about to come off. “You’re right—I do need to take Bela’s feelings into consideration. Or at least talk to her about it,” Santana mutters. “These appointments haven’t been going well Charlie. The tumor shrunk—but it’s not small enough to remove, my numbers are apparently horrible and the drugs—well honestly after the chemo it feels like I’m dying. You don’t know how bad it is.”

Charlie reaches for Santana’s hand and gently squeezes it. “No, I don’t know what it’s like, but as I’ve said before. I know what it’s like to feel so sick you want to do die.” Charlie runs her thumb over Santana’s knuckles gently. “But I’m here now, for what it’s worth,” Charlie mumbles. 

Santana shifts and then squeezes Charlie’s hand choosing not to say anything, she’s not going to cry in a damn hospital, especially not with Quinn around. She turns to Charlie who gives her an encouraging smile and Santana is about to say something when the nurse appears in the doorway.

“Santana Lopez?” 

Santana winces and tightens her grip on Charlie’s hand as she tosses the magazine down and stands up, Charlie quickly scrambling up to walk in with her. She just wanted to hear  good news. Through this whole shitty process, she had yet to hear some damn good news. Something that would give her hope. “Come on, let’s get this over with.” 

Time to face the music.


	28. Chapter 28

“I don’t see why we couldn’t go in with her,” Bela complained to Charlie as they entered her apartment. It was the first time that she had watched her mother going to the hospital and she frowned. She didn’t quite like being told no, someone should have been there with her and Brittany had to make up for all the days that she had missed. “It’s her  last session, we should be there.” 

Charlie agreed, but Santana had been adamant about the whole thing and had pointed out that even if she wanted them there. Bela wasn’t allowed to sit with her, she didn’t want her daughter anywhere near medication that they were pumping into her body. “It’s three hours Bela and we’ll be there to pick her up,” Charlie said gently. “Maybe we should make her something?”

Bela huffed at this, she wasn’t a child who needed to make a card for her mom. “No, I just want to make sure that she’s okay,” Bela’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Charlie, “Since you won’t kiss her.”

Charlie made a face, there was a large part of her that wanted to tell Bela that she had indeed kissed Santana. But she agreed with Santana, that keeping it  quiet right now was the best thing. This wasn’t a situation that she could win with Bela, if she didn’t kiss Santana and Santana died, Bela would blame her. If she did kiss Santana and Santana died, Bela would probably still blame her but there was also the possibility that she’d blame herself. Though Santana’s last report had been  good , it could be better and they didn’t want to get Bela’s hopes up. Not until after they tried the surgery. “I promise we’ll leave early so we can pick her up.”

Bela huffs at this, “Well I don’t feel like building your arcade today,” she said her arms still crossed, as she noticed the bag from an art store and a huge piece of wood that was leaning against the table. 

“Okay,” Charlie responds and moves towards the giant wooden board and grabs it, shifting it carefully and moving towards her balcony. She’s aware that Bela is watching her carefully as she places the piece of wood on her balcony where there was already some tarp that had been laid out. She sets the board so that it’s leaning against the rails of her balcony. 

Bela puffs out her cheeks, she was being ignored. She didn’t like being ignored, “ Charlie ,” she snaps at her and she watches as Charlie turns to look at her. “Don’t you care?” 

Charlie tilts her head and looks at Bela for a moment before coming back inside, “You  know I do—”

“Do I?” Bela challenged, her gaze so obstinate that Charlie is eerily reminded of Santana.

Charlie quirks a brow at Bela, “Of  course I do. I want to be there for your mother too. I want her to get better, I  need her to get better. That’s why I’m going to make her something.” She crinkles her nose a bit and turns back to the wood, it’s  far too big maybe she could cut it down to size and make into something cool. Her portable table saw was in her car. “Do you think she’d like a birdhouse?”

“My mom thinks birds are diseased rats with wings,” Bela said biting her lip. “How about a clock?” 

Charlie shakes her head, “I don’t think giving her something that tells time is a good get well present,” Charlie points out.

“Well,” Bela said tilting her head a bit. “What’s the first thing you made?”

“A box. I just made it to hold stuff, it wasn’t a very good box, it fell apart in like two days.”

Bela crinkles her nose wondering how you could mess up something as simple as a box. “Well, make her a box to put things in. Maybe a jewelry box—or a box to put all her pens, or maybe something for all her shoes and purses. Mom buys  a lot of those.” Bela tugs on Charlie’s arm and motions for her to come closer before whispering in her ear. “Mom’s addicted.” 

“So maybe a shelf in her closet for all her shoes—”

“There are  a lot of shoes,” Bela informed her. 

“Well then.” Charlie turned and looked at the piece of wood for a moment before nodding at Bela. “We’d best get to work then. We’ve only got a couple of hours,” Charlie said stretching. “No you can’t use the power tools,” Charlie said with a shake of her head before Bela could even ask. 

“Why not? Mom doesn’t have to know!” Bela grumbled. It wasn’t fair she would be careful and it would be so cool, and Charlie was  right there. She was nearly eleven she was the perfect age to start using tools like that. 

“Bela, your mom has a Mexican third eye, she knows  everything . If I even  think about it, she’ll call me and start yelling at me.” Charlie says as she puts an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “Come on, I need your help bring some of the stuff upstairs.”

“You know about the third eye as well?” Bela threw her hands up in the air. “It’s not fair, I can’t do  anything because she always knows. The only time she doesn’t is when she’s distracted.” 

“Right?” Charlie nods in agreement as she grabs her car keys and the keys to her apartment. She opens the door. “It’s  really hard to hide stuff from your—” Charlie trailed off as she saw her dad standing outside the door his hand raised. Charlie blinked and immediately shifted her body, stepping in front of Bela. It was instinct her father had threatened to try and take her daughter away from her and she’d be  damned if she was going to let that happen. “What are  you doing here?” 

“Can I come in?” Russell asked. 

“No,” Charlie stated calmly. “I thought I was clear, though I do appreciate the fact that you at least had the decency to knock. I don’t like the  idea  that you know where I am at any given time. Now if you’ll excuse us, Bela and I are busy.” 

Russell studied his daughter for a moment, he was  not  going to have this conversation in the hallway. “Charlie. I’m not going to leave until you at least  hear me out.”

Charlie grimaced and tilted her head to look at Bela, unsure what the correct action was going to be. She exhales slowly, “Hey Bela? Why don’t you go—watch a bit of television. This won’t take long,” Charlie said turning to Bela who didn’t move. “Bela please?” Charlie asks. 

“Fine, ” Bela huffs and then waves politely at her grandfather. She grumbles she didn’t like being treated like a child and she wanted to watch this argument. Maybe she’ll listen at the doorway.

Charlie waits for a moment before turning back to her father, “You still can’t come in,” she says firmly. “What do you want?” 

“Your mother asked—no she demanded that I fix things between us. I wish—to make amends.” Russell said trying to keep the irritation off his face.

“You’re  here because mom  asked you to be here?” Charlie asked incredulously. “That’s why you’re here?” 

Russell closed his eyes and sighed this was awkward and he could think of a million things he would rather be doing. “Charlotte, I don’t know what you want from me.” 

“To be left alone?” Charlie says dryly. “It shouldn’t be  difficult you’ve been doing it for years. I don’t want an apology you don’t mean, and you’re doing it because you don’t want to be in the doghouse. It doesn’t make things  better . Sorry doesn’t automatically make things better.” 

“Charlotte, if you think I enjoyed this—that I took pleasure in your failing—you’re wrong. I don’t like what our relationship has become, nor do I enjoy what it’s done to the family. Apologizing has never come easy to me, but if I didn’t mean it then I wouldn’t be here.” 

“Because having your father abandon you was absolutely the best experience of my life,” Charlie says her voice  dripping with sarcasm and barely contained bitterness. 

“I’ve  made  mistakes. Getting you fired was probably not the best way to help you. I regret making sure that you had the best care but I didn’t know what to do. I did what I thought was best, I’ve seen my friends—how they treated their children after they got hooked on drugs. I’ve seen how it destroyed the family, the lying the cheating, I wasn’t going to let you do that, to run this family. Them blowing their fortunes on drugs, I’ve seen it all Charlie and I did what I thought I had to.” 

Charlie shifted ever so slightly, a year ago this apology would have been enough. It was she wanted, what Mike had told her that she’d  never get. Russell was falling on the proverbial sword and she  didn’t  care. “You don’t know how much I wanted to hear that. To just be part of the family again, but the reality is I don’t  care . I’m not angry about the money, and I don’t care about the job. I like my job now.  But I have a kid now and I don’t think there is anything that Bela could do, she could murder someone and ask me to help her hide the body and I’d do it in a heartbeat, because she’s my  daughter . What hurt me, was the emotional connection. I needed you and you weren’t there and what’s worse is you took Quinn from me and cut me off there too.” Charlie exhales. “When Beth was born and you decided that I shouldn’t be around her and convinced Quinn that was the best. I spent three weeks on my sponsor’s couch because I was  terrified that I was going to relapse. You  threatened  to take away my child and you expect that a simple ‘I’m sorry, my bad’ is going to fix all of this? It’s not. I want to be left alone.” 

Russell studied his daughter for a moment and let out a resigned sigh, “I didn’t expect things to magically get better overnight but I do wish to repair this relationship, and I hope that you’ll at least take my peace offering. It’s downstairs.”

Charlie made a face, “I don’t need anything from you,” Charlie says crossing her arms. She knew her parents, things meant conditions and she didn’t feel like dealing with it now. 

Bela poked her head from the living room where she had been eavesdropping the entire conversation, “Charlie! You can’t be rude! Mom says it’s impolite to give back gifts.” 

Charlie sighs and made a face as her father smiled at her daughter, “Fine. We were going down to the garage anyway. Come on Bela.” She already knew that she wasn’t going to like whatever it was that her father had decided to give to her, but she didn’t want to appear petulant in front of Bela. Parenting was hard. 

“You’re going to love it.” Russell promised as they walked to the elevator and headed down to the garage. 

“I—” Charlie grimaces when she feels a small pointy elbow in her side and turns to her daughter who flashes her a smile and leans in.

“Mom says even if you don’t like it you’re supposed to smile and say thank-you.” Bela sniffed slightly annoyed that Charlie didn’t know all of this. 

Charlie scowls when she hears her father snort and shoots him an annoyed look. He was the one putting her through this hell, she just wanted to build a shelf with Bela and pick Santana up and drive back home. The elevator dings open and they step out into the parking garage. She watches her father moves towards the guest parking and pats what appears to be a brand new red Ford F150. Charlie stares mutely, he had to be  joking she didn’t need what she imagined was a fully loaded truck that was new and shiny and had a very small bed attached to it. “What the—”

Russell smiled pleased with himself. “It’s amazing isn’t it? It’s the newest model and it’s fully loaded, with all the safety features that I could get. All wheel drive of course and you can drive it to work and back. I also got you the platinum care package so you just need to take it in every now and again.” Russell motioned for Bela to come closer and opened the door for her. “It also has a lot of safety features, and it can help you reverse park, and an excellent sound system.” 

“This is  awesome !” Bela said and managed to duck out of Charlie’s reach to check the car out.  Russell opened the door for her and she stepped on the running board and propelled herself into the truck. Everything looked so new and shiny. 

Charlie frowned, trucks were supposed to be rugged and have a bit of history to them. She didn’t particularly care if it got a few dings, it simply added character. “I didn’t need a new truck, my old one is perfectly fine.” Charlie grumbles not impressed at all. She was about to tell Bela off when her daughter gave her a look that would have made Santana proud because never had her daughter looked more like her mother than she did at that moment. 

“You’re supposed to say  thank you, ” Bela reminded Charlie crossing her arms over her chest. 

Charlie’s eye twitched ever so slightly before she turned to her father and forced a fake smile onto her lips. “Thank you,” She gives Bela a look and is rewarded with a smile. Her own smile fades as she looks her father. This didn’t make anything better in fact it felt like he was trying to buy her forgiveness, she didn’t need or want his money.

“Can we take this car to pick up mom? She’ll be super comfortable in it. She thinks your truck is a death trap, she’s just too polite to say anything,” Bela asked her grandfather before turning to Charlie.

Charlie made a face, “Santana isn’t too polite to tell me that my car is a death trap, she may have mentioned that a few times.” Charlie grumbled as her father handed her the keys to the truck. She blamed Santana for this. 

* * *

 

Santana stared at the truck in front of her, and she suddenly understood why Bela had this huge grin on her face. “What the  hell is this?” This is what happened when she left Charlie in charge of Bela for a few hours. How could Charlie think this would be a  good idea? 

“Charlie’s dad showed up,” Bela said stepping in for Charlie. “It’s got heated seats! And we have space so you won’t be squished.” Bela tugged on Santana’s arm gently. “You can also play your music without having to plug it in! It’s super cool mom, and you can see the back when you reverse.” Bela shifted so she could help her mom a bit better. “I had to remind Charlie to say thank you.” 

Santana flicks her eyes to Charlie who looks annoyed by this fact, “I see.” It was obvious that Charlie had been stuck between a rock and a hard place and had chosen to do what was best for Bela. It was touching even there was now this monstrosity parked outside the hospital. “Your dad does know that you have nothing to compensate for right?” 

Bela blinked and crinkled her nose when Charlie began to laugh, “What does that mean?” 

Charlie turned red at the question and looked at Santana for a bit of help but there was that evil smirk on Santana’s face and she knew she was on her own. “It means that I feel good about myself, so I don’t need fancy things or big cars to make me feel good.” Charlie explains pleased that she could come up with an age appropriate answer. Bela nods at this and opens the door for her mother, who was helped into the truck by Charlie. She grins at Charlie who opens the door for her and picks her up hoisting her into the truck. 

“Well,” Santana says after Charlie closes Bela’s door and moves to close hers. “At least it has more space than your old sports car. We’ll need to test that sometime.” 

Charlie blinks and then smiles at Santana, things were  good they were looking up and Santana was suggesting future events. “I’ll hold you to it.” Charlie promises. 

 


	29. Chapter 29

Santana shifted on the porch, she was exhausted and still felt a queasy but she was determined to make this day a good one, and work with Charlie and Bela to build that arcade. Even if all she was doing was barking out instructions for Charlie and Bela to follow. Charlie would most certainly be getting the brunt of her attention. She thought she had a thing for all those suits that Charlie used to wear but there was something simple about the white wife beater which seemed far too tight and the baggy paint stained cargo pants. This should be illegal. Charlie had  clearly done this on purpose to force her to stare at her. She can’t help but roll her eyes when Charlie finally notices her staring and winks at her when Bela wasn’t paying attention. 

“Stop flirting with my mom and help me with these stencils Charlie,” Bela said without looking up from where she was trying to figure out how she wanted the stencils on the large piece of wood that they had already painted black. 

Charlie nearly trips as she twists around to look at Bela, “I thought you  wanted me to flirt with your mom?” Charlie said and Bela gives her a dry look. She decided not to mention that her daughter was quickly developing a Mexican third-eye of her own and whatever this thing with Santana was it was going to become increasingly more difficult. She coughs at the look her daughter is giving her and shuffles a bit and goes to help her with her stencils. 

Santana took a sip of her water and leaned back, “Don’t be mean to Charlie, Isabela. She’s trying to keep me entertained.” 

“She’s not doing anything,” Bela said crinkling her nose and turning to her mother not quite understanding what she was talking about. 

Santana tilted her head as Charlie bent over, “She’s doing plenty.”

Bela followed her mother’s gaze and made a face. “She’s staring at your butt Charlie—adults are  weird .” She grumbles the last part when Charlie turns a bright red and turns back to her mother to flash her a smile. She was suddenly realizing that her parents were both weird and gross and awkward. She crosses her arms over her chest and studies her parents for a moment, after that last chemotherapy session they had been oddly close. She was about ask if they were  finally dating when a car pulled into the driveway. Bela lets out a breath, “Finally! Beth’s here.” Now she wouldn’t have to be alone with her very weird parents. 

Charlie frowned and turned to Bela wrapping an arm around her shoulder, “What do you mean Beth is here?” She had dragged all her heavy gear out and she wasn’t doing all this work for nothing. “I thought we were going to build this arcade cabinet together.”

Bela rolls her eyes, “We  are —but Beth  said she wanted one as well we were going to make two anyway, so she can have the other one.” Bela pauses for a moment. “You did buy  two of everything didn’t you?”

Charlie made a face, “Yeah—in case we messed up, this is my first time making one.” Charlie whispers throwing her hands up. She turns to Santana and points to Bela hoping that Santana would completely back her up on this. She wasn’t looking forward to dealing with her family today. She still didn’t know what to do when it came to dealing with the truck that her father had given her, and Santana had said she couldn’t just leave it in her driveway. If Bela was sixteen she’d just hand the car over to her. But Bela was ten and she doubted that Santana would approve of her giving Isabela the keys to the truck. 

Santana watched as Bela ran to the car that Rachel and Quinn were exiting before looking at Charlie and shrugging, “How about you just give Beth the crappy one?” She smirks when Charlie snorts. She’d need to talk to Bela about springing things on Charlie last minute. “Bela, next time tell me you’re inviting the hobbit family from the shire. At least we’re outside so I probably won’t have to look at the hairy feet.” 

“What I don’t understand, is how you’re only a few inches taller than Rachel and you still get away with calling her a hobbit,” Charlie said and was rewarded with a slightly annoyed look from Santana. “Right. Getting back to work now. Come on Bela—Beth, we’ve got to start building this thing, and you two need to start painting so it can dry and then I can sand it down to make sure that it’s smooth. Bela make sure that Beth is wearing a mask.” Charlie said turning to her daughter and shifting nervously, Santana was still slightly miffed about the joke about her height. 

“Quinn, make sure that Beth has her mask on. You know how she is about rules,” Rachel said as she took a seat on the porch beside Santana and smiled at her. “You look good. How are you feeling?” 

Santana flicked her eyes to Rachel wondering why she was currently sitting beside her. “I’m fine Rachel.” She would be in bed if she wasn’t. “That’s why I’m here  delegating .” Santana said with a small tilt of her head, motioning towards Beth and Bela who were busy talking secretively. She frowned ever so slightly as Quinn moved to talk to her twin. She turned to Rachel who was still staring at her curiously and looking at her like she was a fragile being. Santana sighed and rolled her eyes. “Delegating is code for watching Charlie bend over.” If grossing Rachel out was the best way to get her porch back then she’d have no problem in doing just that. 

Rachel crinkled her nose in disgust, “I didn’t need to know that,” she mutters and turns back to Quinn and Charlie. “Quinn said that you two are—?” She trails off when Santana gives her a sharp look. “What are you two doing?”

“Watching Charlie fix things? If she knew how sexy she looked fixing things? She’d have so many women throwing themselves at her.” Santana said with a frown. 

Rachel groaned, “Santana  stop , I’m serious. What’s going on between the two of you? Quinn’s upset, and she’s worried. Charlie—”

“Is  fine ,” Santana said calmly cutting her off. “She’s doing a good job Rachel, do you see her with Bela right now? That’s Charlie. You need to bend Quinn over and remove the stick that’s been lodged up her ass for ten years. You both don’t know  anything about her.” Santana motioned to Charlie who helped Beth with her mask and then moved to a spare piece of wood to show them how to make the stencils properly. “Now, please just enjoy the show that you’re getting.” 

Rachel rolled her eyes, she should have known better than to try and talk to Santana about things. She was offended that Santana seemed to think that she was the only one that cared, but Charlie was still—sensitive. Santana couldn’t just hope that things would turn out for the best. She knew Charlie well enough to know that this wasn’t just sex, she would do  anything for Santana. If anything were to happen to her—if things didn’t get better for Santana, she wasn’t sure how Charlie would handle it. “I don’t see what the big deal is Santana. They’re just working with some wood.”

“Will you just  watch ? Hearing your voice will ruin it for me. Charlie it’ll go a bit faster if you worked with Quinn,” Santana said leaning back and watching as Charlie turned to her and nodded. “Now just watch Quinn, and I mean  really watch.” Santana muttered turning her attention back to Charlie who bent over to pick up the hammer that she had put on the ground. “Mmmf,” Santana said loud enough for Charlie to hear. 

Charlie turned to look at Santana and stuck her tongue out at her and shook her head. She should be offended that Santana was objectifying her but she smiled as she grabbed a piece of MDF and held it up, and grabbed a ruler from her cargo pants and begin to make some marks on the plywood. “Do you know how to use a drill? We’re going to need to drill some holes in this,” Charlie said holding up the piece of MDF. She shifts and begins to put buttons and the joysticks on the MDF, tracing them onto the wood when she finally has a pattern that she likes.

“I’m pretty sure I can handle it,” Quinn said slightly offended. If Charlie could do it then she could do it as well. She’s met with Charlie giving her this look and then handing her a hammer. 

“Don’t hurt yourself, pretty sure your hands are important.” Charlie says with a grunt as she finishes tracing it out. 

“Yeah they are—” Quinn trailed off as she watched Charlie placed the piece of wood onto the table and grabbed a drill, to start making holes in the wood. “I heard that dad apologized.” She was met with another grunt from Charlie who turned on the drill and began to drill holes into the wood. 

“Yep,” Charlie said running her finger along the hole she had just made and turns to look at Santana who nods at her and she sighs and holds out the drill for her sister. “Come on, it’s pretty easy, just make sure that it lines up with the holes that I drew and then just press the trigger.” 

Quinn stared at the drill and crinkled her nose, “I think I’ll pass,” She said as politely as she could. “Look Charlie—I just wanted—”

Charlie held her hand up, “Seriously Quinn, I’m here doing you a favor. I don’t want to talk about emotions I want to build things. So take the drill put it against the wood and pull the trigger. I don’t think you’ll screw this up too badly.”

Quinn sighed, she didn’t like how this had changed but she was doing this in part because Rachel and her mother had ganged up on her. Yeah she felt bad but she still hadn’t forgiven Charlie, not really. Santana, her parents, Rachel—they didn’t get it. They hadn’t been the ones to find her on the ground dying because she had taken far too many drugs. “A favor doing what?”

“Getting you laid,” Charlie said watching Quinn carefully. She managed to get the drill through the MDF and Charlie pointed to the next hole.

“Trust me, I don’t need your help getting laid,” Quinn snipped pointing to her wedding band. They might not have as much sex as they used to with their schedules all over the place but she certainly didn’t need Charlie’s help. “Anyway, I just want to say that I’m sorry.” 

“You do, and trust me after this you’ll come back and ask me how to help you fix things around the house,” Charlie said flicking her eyes to Rachel who was watching Quinn carefully. “It’s what it is Quinn. I don’t care anymore. I really don’t. I just want to get on with my life—careful you don’t want any blow back.” 

“I  doubt it,” Quinn said grumbling and looks at Charlie, adjusting her arms a bit and frowning as she looked at her twin. “You never apologized.”

It takes her a moment to realize what Quinn was talking about before she shrugs. “No, you’re right I didn’t. I did say thank you,” Charlie pointed out. “Thank you Quinn—for saving me. I wouldn’t be here—I wouldn’t have met my family if it wasn’t for you. So  thank you.” 

Quinn sighed and shook her head, it was the best she was going to get. “I don’t need your help getting laid Charlie. Especially from someone who didn’t have sex for what 8 years? Rachel and I have plenty of sex.”

“Yes but when was the last time she ripped your clothes off—” Charlie trails off and turns to make sure that Bela and Beth are busy but they hadn’t noticed what they were talking about. “Trust me—I didn’t have sex for eight years because I didn’t want to. But women find it  super sexy. Like they  really do.”

“I’m a surgeon. Rachel finds that extremely hot.”  

“No she doesn’t, what she gets turned on when you’re covered in blood and guts? Please.” Charlie said as Quinn finished and Charlie pulls out some screws from her pocket. “Trust me on this. We’re going to need to screw in the joystick now—”

“Santana?” Rachel asks turning to look at Santana who was watching slightly bored now that Charlie wasn’t really doing anything.

“Hobbit?”

“Do you think that you can watch Beth for a few hours?” 

“Told you, get Quinn to wear something like Charlie’s wearing, get that sweat and everything—” Santana smirks. “I’ll watch your brat but you two had better come back.”

“Right,” Rachel said suddenly realizing what Santana was talking about. The look of concentration on Quinn’s face everything was just  right , the gleam of sweat on her body, the way the sun was hitting her. Everything just felt right. “Quinn we’ve got to go.”

Quinn blinks as she feels Rachel tug on her arm, pulling her away. She turns to her twin who smiles and waves. “Have fun,” she adds for good measure and grabs the screws so she could start with the joysticks and all the electrics. She thought the fact that the buttons would glow was awesome and Bela thought so too.

“ Finally ,” Santana said leaning back a bit trying to enjoy the show. Charlie turns to her and she scowls. “Back to work.” Charlie sticks out her tongue but begins to do what she asked anyway, this was the  perfect way to spend her day. 

 


	30. Chapter 30

Bela kicked her feet a bit frowning as she looked up at Charlie who had just returned from the vending machine with two bottles of waters and some candy bars. “How much longer?” She shifted the vase that she and Charlie had made for her mother which was filled with beautiful flowers and put it on the ground to take the water and a chocolate bar. 

Charlie shifted, they had already been waiting an hour for some news—any news. But no one had come to talk to them, she didn’t want to go far just in case, so it was just water and chocolate bars until they heard that the surgery had been a success.  “I don’t really know, I didn’t ask how long the surgery was going to take. Quinn had begun to describe the surgery and she had gotten a bit queasy. “We’re going to need to help your mom out for like a month or two, alright? Which means we’ll take care of whatever she needs.” 

Bela smiles at this, “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do anyway?” she teased but the smile faded as the worry sets in again. She shifts a bit and slumps in her chair. 

Charlie bit her lip, Bela was only ten and she didn’t’ know how to handle this. She wasn’t even sure how to handle it and she was supposed to be an adult. “Do you want to play on my phone? I have—Angry Birds?” 

Bela looks up and tries to smile at Charlie’s weird attempt to make her feel better or distract her but she wasn’t  five or two, she just wanted her mom. “What did you wish for?” Bela said crinkling her nose at Charlie’s phone.  “No one plays angry birds anymore Charlie,” she adds after a moment and watches as Charlie fumbles with her phone a blush on her cheeks. “You remember the day I showed up at your apartment? What did you wish for? You had a cupcake out—and I saw a candle was it your birthday?”

“It was,” Charlie said quietly remembering her wish. “I wished—I wanted—I didn’t want to be alone anymore.” Charlie admits after a moment. “I was tired of being alone, of doing the same thing every day with very little changes and coming home to an empty apartment with white walls. I didn’t think my wish would show up like five minutes later and turn my life upside down.” 

Bela mulled that over for a second before a huge grin appeared on her face, “I was the answer to your wish wasn’t I?”

Charlie reached over and mussed up Bela’s hair causing her to scowl. “Well I didn’t know it then!” She smiles and nudges her daughter. “But, yes you were the answer to my wish.” 

“So if I make a wish do you think it’ll come true?” Bela asked biting her lip. “It’s nearly my birthday and I just want my mom to be there for my birthday. I don’t want any presents, or a party I just want her there.” 

“Your mom—” Charlie began.

“Don’t  tell  me she’s a fighter. I know that Charlie, I just want my mom to get better. This can’t be her ending Charlie, you were supposed to be her happy ending.” Bela snapped at Charlie whose brow furrowed at her anger. “She’s my  mom , and I just want her to be happy—I can’t remember a time that she was  really happy. She just works and spends time with me and comes to my plays but she’s  lonely . When I asked about you she’d get this smile on her face and she told me that she  really loved you. That she loved you more than anyone else. That’s why I came to find you so you could  fix it , you broke her heart and you needed to  fix it .”  

Charlie closes her mouth, there was a lot that she wanted to say but she didn’t know how to begin. Bela was scared, for what the future held, whether her mother would live or die. She wanted to promise Bela that Santana would beat this, it was looking promising but anything could happen and they had both agreed that they needed Bela to be prepared for the worst. She couldn’t lie to Bela, “Life isn’t fair Bela. I know how much you want it to be, but life sometimes  sucks . What I did to your mother—what your mother had to do to protect you, it’s one of those things that’s not  fair . Nothing I will ever do will ever make it right. Even being here right now, doesn’t change the ten years where I wasn’t here. I know I didn’t know, but I should have. I should have tried. It doesn’t matter how many times I say sorry it doesn’t change anything that happened in the past. All I can promise is that I’ll do everything I can to be there for your mom. To be there for you, I don’t want to miss anymore milestones. Your mom is fighting to beat this thing Bela and I have faith that she’s going to beat it and get better, and come back just as strong.” 

Bela studies Charlie for a moment and she wants to yell at her some more, to get angry but instead she just slumps against her mother and feels an arm wrap around her tightly. “It’s not fair,” she mumbles. She had also wished for her family to be reunited and now there was a good chance that she was going to lose it. 

“I know,” Charlie admits and holds her daughter close. 

“When she gets better—”Bela said with a yawn curling into Charlie who unzips her hoodie and places it on top of her in a makeshift blanket. “Promise me you’ll ask her out on a date?” 

“I—alright—I’ll ask her.” Charlie mumbles flushing. She didn’t exactly understand what it was going to do, she and Santana had  dated , they had a kid together was it still dating? They were having sex, well sort of, occasionally. She wasn’t sure what dating would entail. She wasn’t quite sure Santana  wanted to start a relationship, maybe her body and a willing partner but not the full package. She wasn’t sure if she was going to be okay with that. “But your mom can say no, Bela. If she says no, you have to accept that we’re not meant to be.”

Bela scowled at this, “You’ll just have to win her over and do a good job. I want to be a family—I don’t like it that you have to leave every night or sleep on the couch. You love my mom and she loves you, it will work out.”

“Maybe,” Charlie says she can’t promise Bela the world, but she’d try her best to make it come true. She didn’t want to share custody, she wanted to raise their daughter together and maybe it was time to expand into Philadelphia. Puck finally had enough money saved up and wanted to partner with her in an investment and she really did want to look into the market in Philadelphia.  It might even be better for Puck in the long run. She glanced over at Bela and rubbed her arm gently noting that her daughter had fallen asleep on her arm. She sighs and relaxes in her chair and just waits. She’s not religious even though her mother had forced her to go to Sunday school for years, but she just wants Santana to get better. It wasn’t something that would hurt. 

* * *

 

Waking up from major surgery  sucked , that was the simplest way to put it. Saying her chest hurt was a mild way to put it, she felt like they had cut open her chest and removed some organs, which was something that they had done and she knew that there was probably going to be an ugly scar.  The lights were too bright and the stupid dress thing that they put her in itched horribly. She shifted trying to get up so she could get some water only to have a sharp pain pass through her chest causing her to cry out in pain.  She was lucky that no one was there to witness—

“Mom?” Bela asked moving to her side, “Charlie I think she’s awake!” Bela said moving to try and hug her mom only to have Charlie practically hold her back. 

“Bela you need to be careful she just had major surgery,” Charlie lectured stopping her daughter from practically attacking her mother. “We need to be gentle remember?”

“Charlie—” Santana began her voice coming out in a hoarse croak and she coughed and felt the tears spring to her eyes because of the pain. She absolutely  loathed appearing weak and helpless but that’s exactly what she was. She feels a straw poke against her lips and she takes a few careful sips. Breathing hurt, she didn’t want to find out what swallowing huge amounts of water did. She pulls back a bit, her throat feeling a bit better.  She leans back in her bed and she’s aware that her daughter and Charlie are like staring at her like she’s going to break. “Charlie,” she repeats again motioning for Charlie to come closer and she reaches up and pinches Charlie’s side causing her to yelp and scramble back. “Don’t you ever stop Bela from hugging me!” She informs her bluntly and she feels her daughter immediately wrap her arms around her. It  hurt , like a bitch but in the good way. She wouldn’t give this up for anything. 

Charlie rubbed her side, and stuck her tongue out at Santana who flipped her off and she smiled, she was still Santana. “We talked to your doctor—I’ll go find her—but they said that they might have gotten it all. They might do more tests but—he looked pleased with himself.” Charlie said rubbing the back of her neck as she watched Bela crawl onto the bed and curl into Santana’s side. 

“You know Bela, with all her running away, one would think that she didn’t want to give me a hug,” Santana said dryly as Charlie turned to go and fetch the doctor.

“She was super scared,” Bela whispers to her mother and grins when Charlie flushes and turns back to look at them. “You should  totally hug mom, and then do what you promised.” 

“ Bela ?” Charlie said horrified that Bela had thrown her under the bus. Santana was probably a bit loopy from the major surgery she had just had. She couldn’t ask her now. “Not  now —”

Bela turned to her mother, “You promised too, that if you got better then you’d tell Charlie that she was your girlfriend. So tell her and you two can stop being gross all the time when you think I’m not looking.” 

Santana blinked and looked at Charlie for a moment, “You heard Bela. Though I don’t think that she understands that if we start dating we’ll probably gross her out a lot more.” 

Charlie blinked, “You want to—with me?” She flushed when Santana gave her a dry look and Bela stared at her like she had grown a third head. “I mean—”

“You don’t really have a choice in the matter. I’ve seen your attempts at trying to date women Charlie, it’s not pretty.” Santana said shaking her head as Charlie fumbled getting more nervous by the minute her cheeks growing an increasing shade of red. She wanted to see how this would go but at this point she wanted Charlie to just squeeze onto the damn hospital bed and hold her  gently . She pauses when she sees tears in Charlie’s eyes and blinks. “Bela—her eyes are leaking.” 

Bela looks up at Charlie and then her m other, “She’s crying mom.” Bela whispers slightly confused as to why Charlie was crying it was weird. 

Santana raises a brow, “Are you crying because you just realized that you’re going to be dating Satan again?” Charlie shakes her head and Santana glances at her daughter for a moment before looking back at Charlie. 

“Don’t make it weird Charlie,” Bela lectures her, hoping to salvage the situation. 

Charlie sniffles and wipes her face with her sleeve, “Hospitals just make me cry,” she tries and she hears a snort from Santana. “They do!” 

Bela tilted her head to her mother, “You know she wished for this,” she says further throwing Charlie under the bus. She ignored the look that Charlie was giving her and just continued. “She’s like super in love with you mom.” 

“Is she?” Santana asks her smile growing at Charlie’s obvious discomfort. 

“Yep, it’s almost as bad as how much you love her,” Bela laughed when Santana turned to her and narrowed her eyes. “So just—kiss already!” 

Charlie shuffled closer to Santana, “We’re being peer pressured by our daughter,” she points out. “I mean you just had surgery, it can wait so it doesn’t hurt—”

Santana rolled her eyes, Charlie wasn’t who she remembered her to be but she had gotten used to this version of her and she loved her all the same. “Just get your ass over here,” she barks wincing in pain as Charlie practically stumbles towards her.  She narrows her eyes at Charlie who slowly smiles and a part of her wonders if Charlie enjoys being bossed around by her, well at least that had never really changed. She feels Charlie press her own lips against hers and she kisses back, it’s a small kiss but it’s a kiss none the less she’s not going to scar her daughter who has a smug look on her face. 

Bela hummed and crinkled her nose, this was her happy ending as well. She had  both of her parents back but her wish wasn’t exactly complete yet. “So—when am I going to get a baby sister?” She asks innocently smiling when both her parents turn to look at her. “Mom’s going to get better cause you just had true loves kiss—so you need to start thinking about giving me a sister, or a brother. If I get a brother—then I can totally boss him around.”  She ignores the shocked look on her parent’s faces and continues. “Maybe both so I can have minions?” 

Charlie glanced at Santana, “She’s your daughter,” she mumbles to her. 

 


	31. Chapter 31

Five Years Later: 

“Yes mom, we told Russell and Judy that they couldn’t buy her a car for her sixteenth birthday. She’s a  terrible driver. Like I got into the car with her to teach her and after she hit someone’s mailbox I handed the keys over to Charlie. I’m  not getting into the car with her again. Getting her a brand new car is silly.” Santana said as she drove home from work. She heard a beep and chose to ignore it. She listened for a moment, “Yes I know, but—look we have another car once Charlie determines that she’s not going to get herself killed on the road, or kill a pedestrian, we just planned to let her use the car to drive to school and back. If you want to buy her a car get her some hot wheels. That’s what Jack and Kora plan to get her.” Santana points out and she hears her father laugh in the background. “But she’s super excited about the party.” It’s all she had been talking about for  weeks . At least this was considerably less expensive than her Quinceañera.  “Anyway we’ll see you in two weeks. Can you tell  papi not to spend the entire visit glaring at Charlie? It makes her skittish.” Santana said with a roll of her eyes but a smile on her face. 

Her father didn’t  hate Charlie, not really but he found it hilarious that his presence made Charlie so uncomfortable. She was sure that if they lived nearby he’d have Charlie fixing up his house for a discounted price. She ended the call and stretched noting that she had a new voicemail. She sighed and pushed the app on her phone hoping that it wasn’t someone that had done something  exceptionally stupid, she just wanted to go home and play with her babies. 

‘Santana Lopez, this is Doctor Pillsbury, I’m just calling to let you know that I’ve gotten your latest results and I wanted to congratulate you. Your recent tests show that there hasn’t been a recurrence, which was what we were hoping for Santana. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call. I’m sure you and your family will be ecstatic.’

Santana stared at her phone and exhaled deeply, five  years . Her cancer had been in remission for  five years . Five years was  forever , it felt like forever and her life was so different than it had been five years ago. There wasn’t a moment where she felt alone, where she needed to whine to Brittany about how empty her life felt. She exited her car after she pulled into the driveway of the house and shook her head at what appeared to be a new dent in Charlie’s truck. Her  partner was back, and she had never been as glad to have Charlie around. She was so glad that she wasn’t the one attempting to teach Bela how to drive. She had survived cancer, she didn’t want to push her luck with a heart attack. She opened the door to the smell of her enchilada recipe and she smiled.  She headed straight to the kitchen where Charlie was helping Jack and Kora wash their hands. 

“Mom,” Bela said with a huff causing Santana to turn to her oldest daughter who had a pout on her face. “Ma says I’m not ready to get my license,” she whined hoping that it would work and her mother would talk to Charlie. 

Santana raised a brow and patted Bela on the shoulder. “Good. I’m too young to start getting grey hairs. I can’t spend my day  worrying about you whenever you take the car.” Santana said briskly. “Want to tell me what you hit today? I saw the new dent in the truck.” Bela flushes and mumbles something under her breath causing her to smirk. “Exactly now go wash up,” she ordered.

“ Mommy! ” Jack yelled and pulled away from Charlie causing Kora to turn and grin and immediately stampede after him. “You’re  back! ” He threw his arms around her legs nearly pushing her to the ground.

Kora latched on to not noticing her mother wobble trying to stay upright, “Missed you mommy,” she mumbles before holding her hands up wanting to be carried. “We made chiladas,” she said proudly. “Right ma?”

“Right,” Charlie said with a grin flashing a huge smile at Santana as she moved to her bending over to scoop both of their children into her arms and lifting them up so they could give Santana giant wet  kisses on the cheek. “Hello, Mrs. Fabray-Lopez.” Charlie said with a smile leaning in for her kiss. When they had finally gotten married Santana had refused to let her dump her last name. Something about how Charlie was still going to be a Fabray. She was now on relative speaking terms with her parents. She at least answered the phone when they answered, most of the time. 

“ Gross ! We talked about this no public displays of affection in the kitchen!” Bela said crinkling her nose.

Santana ignored her daughter and pressed her lips against Charlie’s for a moment giving her a small peck on the lips before taking Kora who was struggling to get into her arms, she was getting too big to be carried but Charlie spoiled her picking her up whenever she wanted. “Hey there Kora,” Santana said groaning a bit when Kora latched onto her neck. “Remember when Bela was younger and she didn’t care?” Santana asked.

“I do, and she still reminds us that she’s the one that got us together,” Charlie said with a roll of her eyes at her Bela who stuck out her tongue at them. “She hit a parked car today, it wasn’t moving. I think my insurance rate is through the roof now.”

“ Ma you said you wouldn’t tell her!” Bela whined at Charlie.

“Eh, that was before you didn’t let me kiss my wife,” A smile grew on Charlie’s face as she said that and nudged Santana gently. “Besides, I said I wouldn’t tell her if she didn’t notice. There was a giant dent—kind of hard to miss,” Charlie said with a shrug. 

“Well can I drive to school tomorrow?” Bela asked seriously. 

“Sure if you put Jack and Kora to sleep tonight,” Charlie said. “And you wake up early so we can skip the morning rush. You aren’t driving to school when there are kids on the streets.” Charlie said with a shrug. 

Jack turned to Bela and grinned at her, “Can—you tell us  the story ?” 

“It’s my favorite,” Kora agreed nodding in time with her brother. 

Bela groaned, “Alright, I’ll tell you the story again.” She shook her head. She had wanted  minions , but there had been a lot of diapers that needed to be changed before they were capable of being bossed around and even then, they weren’t very good at following instructions. And she was sure her parents used her as free babysitting. She suddenly understood why Beth insisted on being an only child. After her mom’s battle with cancer, she had insisted that she wasn’t getting pregnant again and they had decided to foster some children and finally adopt. That’s how she had gotten stuck with the twins Jack and Kora. It had been a pain in the ass, because she was no longer the  favorite , but her siblings weren’t  that bad. Useless as minions, but they weren’t nightmares. She did get to teach them all sorts of things and watch in amusement as they repeated it. 

Santana smiled and glanced over at Charlie, she always managed to foist bedtime duties on Bela whenever she wanted to spend some time with her, or was doing something romantic. She hoped it was a backrub, she loved the massages that Charlie gave her. “Alright, dinner now and you can all tell me about your day. How did your science test go Isabela?”

“Fine,” Bela mumbled and shifted, so maybe she should have studied a bit harder but she probably wouldn’t get the test back until after her birthday which was a good thing. “I got an A in math though!” 

“Ma said she’d build us a tree house!” Jack said. “We can  help . I get to  hammer things.” 

“You what?” Santana said turning to look Charlie who flashed a grin at her and shifted a bit. “You’re building them a tree house?” 

“Well it’s going to be attached to a tree—not really up in the tree and he’s going to use the toolkit I bought him!” Charlie said quickly explaining. She wasn’t stupid and she was already having minor heart attacks every time she got into the truck with Bela, this wasn’t going to be  that bad. She was already thinking of making a fully functional tiny house for the two of them that they could sleep in and have fun in. It would be a fun project and would probably make them the coolest kids in the neighborhood. 

Santana sighed, “Fine, but after that we’re going to have a serious discussion about you updating  my bathroom. I need more tub space.” She’d trust Charlie with the kids, even if they were only three years old. She hadn’t done anything dangerous with them yet and Jack wanted to be just like her. Which had already led to some hilarity. 

“But—your tub is as big as a swimming pool!” Kora said and frowned. 

“I know sweetheart, but I’ve come to realize that I need a bit more space and  jets ,” she flicked her eyes at Charlie smirking when she turned a bright red. “So dinner,  I’m starving .” 

“You gotsta wash your hands!” Jack said holding up his hands and causing Santana to smile.

“You’re right let me wash up and then we can eat.” Santana said kissing Jack’s forehead and causing him to smile proudly. She was still capable of having children, but she had never wanted to be in a position where the cancer came back and she had to choose. Five years was a long time, and she wanted to be alive long enough to see her grandchildren, though at this rate the idea of grandchildren was never going to happen with Charlie being overprotective. 

Bela moved to set the table and Charlie set Jack in his seat, and smirked at Bela, “Oh look at that you do have some hand eye coordination. I was thinking that we should take you to the optometrist to make sure you weren’t blind.”

Bela grumbled under her breath, “Well if you ever let me practice without freaking out over  every second, I’d probably be fine.” 

“You hit a parked car and I didn’t say anything before or after.” Charlie said bluntly, effectively shooting that down. She hadn’t yelled or screamed she had simply had a heart attack and she had seen her life flash before her eyes. “Anyway,” Charlie adjusted Jack’s booster seat a bit. He still needed it to sit at the table and if he could see everyone then he would still for about twenty minutes until he got bored. It was the same for Kora, they had both decided that they hated their high seats because they were for  babies . 

“Right—but  still .” Bela said huffing as she took her own seat after helping Kora get onto her booster seat and watched with growing horror as her mom kissed her ma on the cheek and smirked at her. She crinkled her nose they were so  gross . She couldn’t believe she had ever thought it was romantic, or that they were romantic. They should take their ‘romance’ to the bedroom—wait that was just as disturbing. Old people should just keep their hands to themselves. “What did you do ma?”

“I checked out some new places to invest in, and talked to the accountant, I also went to a meeting,” Charlie said rubbing the back of her neck. She still went, with all the changes in her life, she needed to do this for her family. She didn’t want to slip  ever , so she went religiously now that she had finally moved out of New York and found a new home. She didn’t even really feel the urge anymore. Running after the twins was enough of a high for her. “Business is good.” Santana still controlled the finances and she still kept a tight control of her spending money. Santana insisted that she didn’t need it, but she did. She didn’t even  know any dealers anymore, so going to buy drugs was out of the question but stopping by Toys R Us was the bane of her existence these days. She had a new problem and that was buying Kora and Jack toys all the time much to Santana’s general chagrin. She was weak, and she knew she had a problem but she just loved the look on their faces when she came home with a new toy. “What about you?”

“Ugh, don’t get me started,” Santana said with a sigh. “People need to learn to just use common sense. I mean yeah I get paid to fix problems but  still you wouldn’t need me if you just used a bit of common sense.” She shook her head. “Oh and Doctor Pillsbury called and gave me the five year all clear,” she slips in as she begins to put food onto her plate. She was so glad she could eat again. No more chemotherapy meant no more nausea, or anything of the sort. She had missed her appetite. She glances up when she hears Charlie drop her utensils. “It’s no big deal, I’m probably going to outlive all of you.” She watches and sighs when Charlie’s eyes begin to water again. “Charlie—don’t you dare.” 

“Her eyes are leaking again,” Bela said bluntly as she took the dish from her mother and began to shovel food onto her plate before helping Jack and Kora with their plates. She was so used to this. Some knight Charlie turned out to be. 

“They aren’t!” Charlie said wiping her face.

Santana reached over and nudged Charlie, “I’m going to be okay. You think I’m going to leave you alone with these three? They’ll walk all over you.” 

“Probably,” Charlie said with a small laugh as she wiped her face again. 

-0-

Santana smiled as she felt Charlie’s arms wrap around her as they finally made their way upstairs, even though they had somehow managed to foist putting Kora and Jack to bed on Bela, she still needed to check on her babies. “So,” she murmurs. “I’ve been cancer free for five years, that’s cause for celebration isn’t it?” 

Charlie laughs and kisses her cheek, “It is, let’s just say goodnight to the kids and then we can lock ourselves in our room. You need to be quiet this time you remember what happened  last  time.” Charlie said causing Santana to finally flush in embarrassment. She didn’t think that they had been that loud but Jack and Kora had knocked on their door and asked if Santana had been alright. 

“That was  your fault ,” Santana hisses at Charlie who flashes her a smile. She crosses her arms over her chest, “I changed my mind we’ll just go to bed.” 

“Right,” Charlie said not believing that for a second as they headed to the twins room and poked their head in to check out what was going on. She smiled as she watched Bela who had the twins practically on top of her ready to hear the story again. 

Santana shook her head and leaned against Charlie some more. She was so proud of her daughter of Bela, even though she refused to admit it, if only because Bela’s ego was already pretty big, it was because of her that she had all this. Her daughter had run away to New York City and found her happy ending. She didn’t even think it was possible or that she’d be this happy. 

Bela cleared her throat, and opened the book that she had written with a bit of help from her mom. “Once upon a time, in a land far away there lived a Queen and her knight. They loved each other very much and a baby was conceived, unfortunately for the queen the knight got lost and it took years to find her way back home.” Bela flicked her eyes to her parents and smiled at them before shaking her head and continuing.

“You know,” Charlie says as they pull away from the door. “She  totally parent-trapped us.”

Santana shook her head, it was terrible to admit that they had both been played by a ten year old. “I know—let’s just blame Brittany.”

“Speaking of which, Mike’s thinking of proposing—except he’s terribly nervous about the whole thing.”

“Worse than you?” Santana teased. Charlie hadn’t even said the words, she had just held the ring out and babbled something and then had turned a bright red. 

“Probably a bit better than me, do you know how mad Bela was that I didn’t get it right?” Charlie groaned and Santana smirked. “She’s your daughter.”

“Except when she’s bad, then she’s yours,” Santana said with a pleased smile as they finally made it to the bedroom that they shared. “I changed my mind again by the way, you can help me celebrate, and then we’re going to talk about  jets ,” Santana laughs as Charlie scoops her up and kisses her cheek, before carrying her into their bedroom kicking the door closed. So maybe she had gotten her happy ending after all. Maybe there was something to those Disney movies after all, because this sure as hell felt like living happily ever after. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so to my readers, I want to say thank you for reading. Don't forget that I do have a tumblr and a patreon. You get an idea of where my updates are, and you can donate if you want to.
> 
> http://astarpen.tumblr.com/
> 
> https://www.patreon.com/astarpen


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